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Family of killed cyclist to lobby government

Tom Dean consulting with lawyers over Crown's decision to press criminal charges against driver involved in his cycling son's death in Richmond

The outraged parents of a killed cyclist are preparing to lobby B.C.’s Attorney General over Crown Counsel’s decision not to press criminal charges against the driver involved in their son’s fatal crash.

Brad Dean’s father, Tom, is talking to family lawyers about putting pressure on Attorney General David Eby after Crown informed him last week that it would only be proceeding with a charge of driving with undue care and attention against Michael Wing Sing Fan.

Brad Dean, 33, was killed on Nov. 6 last year after Fan allegedly plowed head-on into a group of six cyclists on a notorious stretch of River Road, where it meets Westminster Highway in east Richmond.

Tom said he was told by Crown about there “being no precedent for these kinds of cases being tried under criminal proceedings.

“I was told that it was too hard to prove and that the ‘case law wasn’t great.’ But if these kinds of cases never get tried under the criminal code, how is that ever going to change?

“It’s quite simple, justice is not being served. We have a couple of lawyers working for us on this and we are going to be lobbying the office of the (B.C.) Attorney General.

“It’s not just us, Brad’s family, there are a number of people outraged at this.”

Dean
Brad Dean's close friend Kelly Jablonski gets handed Dean's baby daughter before the Ride to Remember event on Sunday. Brad's father, Tom Dean (at rear) is now preparing to lobby B.C.'s Attorney General in a bid to overturn Crown's decision not to press criminal charges against the driver involved in his son's death. Photo by TLBVelo Photography

Tom said he would “absolutely” be willing to risk the driver walking free from court if criminal proceedings failed, rather than see him face the undue care and attention charge, which carries a maximum fine of $2,000 and, under rare circumstances, six months in prison.

“I’d rather have no conviction at all than go for this Motor Vehicle Act joke,” said Tom.

“If (Fan) has to pay a fine and get a few demerit points, I couldn’t care less about that; that means absolutely nothing.

“As it stands, there are no ramifications for Michael Fan.”

Tom said there is a wider “duty to this society for (people) to be held accountable for their actions.

“What is Crown Counsel telling people by this decision? As long as you’re not driving stone drunk, you’ll be OK.”

Richmond-based criminal defence lawyer Jason Tarnow explained the difference between driving without due care and attention and dangerous driving.

“For someone to be convicted of driving without due care and attention...the court will consider the general manner in which the vehicle was driven in relation to the surrounding conditions and circumstances on the road...” Tarnow told the Richmond News.

“Alternatively, for someone to be convicted of dangerous driving (under s. 249 of the Criminal Code), it must be founded in evidence that the manner of driving was a ‘marked departure’ from what the court considers to be acceptable driving and part of that analysis focuses on whether the driver had intended to drive (dangerously).”

When an accident happens, and there is no evidence of an intentional “marked departure” from what is considered to be acceptable, the police, added Tarnow, are “left with the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act, which carry lesser consequences...

“Obviously, this can leave victims extremely frustrated when bodily injury and/or death is the result of that accident.”

Tom said he was told by the RCMP that they had recommended criminal charges, although the police couldn’t confirm this to the News.

Fan, who was 19 at the time of the crash, is scheduled to make his first court appearance at Richmond Provincial Court on Dec. 13.

In honour of Brad, hundreds of fellow cycling enthusiasts turned out at Stanley Park last Sunday morning for the first ever Ride to Remember.