MP Sauvageau distracted by cellphone in fatal crash: coroner
Last Updated: Thursday, August 30, 2007 | 3:47 PM ET
CBC News
A coroner's report on the death last year of Benoit Sauvageau has found that the Bloc Québécois MP did not intentionally crash his car into the back of a tow truck to take his own life, as was rumoured at the time.
The report found that Sauvageau ran into the back of the truck in Repentigny, east of Montreal, because he was distracted by talking with his wife on his cellphone.
Bloc Québécois MP Benoit Sauvageau died just over a year ago when he crashed his car into a tow truck in his riding of Repentigny.
(Canadian Press)
Coroner Pierre Bélisle detailed in his report how Sauvageau had been talking to his wife about what the report calls "a delicate subject" at the time of the accident, and he had told her he was on his way home to continue the discussion.
A witness told the coroner he saw the car pick up speed to try to make it through a yellow light.
The witness also said the driver was leaning over toward the passenger seat.
Sauvageau's wife described for the coroner hearing a sound like something heavy dropping into water, and then, she said, the phone went dead.
Sauvageau's car smashed into the back of the tow truck, mangling the car and crushing his ribcage.
There were no signs he had tried to brake, the report said.
He died a short time later in hospital.
After the accident, there was speculation in some media that Sauvageau had committed suicide.
But the coroner is clear that he died because he was distracted by using his cellphone.
That determination was welcome news for Rev. Raymond Gravel, a Catholic priest who knew Sauvageau, and has replaced him as the MP for the Repentigny riding.
He said Thursday the rumours surrounding Sauvageau's death have been hard on the family.
Gravel said now, a year after Sauvageau's death, the coroner's conclusions will help the family move on.
