$8.5 million lawsuit filed by family over the death of hamilton cyclist Brian Woods
Distracted driver responsible was fined $12,500 careless driving
Photo by:
David Shellnutt
The van driver responsible for the death of cyclist Brian Woods is facing a $8.5-million lawsuit from Woods’s family members.
The legal action aims to obtain compensation on behalf of Amanda Strong-Woods, Woods’ daughter, Aaron Woods, his son, and two of his grandchildren who were affected by the collision.
Woods’s daughter expressed that the lawsuit serves as a cautionary message to drivers and a response to the lenient penalties imposed on the driver who struck and killed her father in July of 2022. Woods was riding to work at the mall when he was struck by the motorist. Both the cyclist and the vehicle were headed northbound when the collision occurred, according to Hamilton police.
Distracted driver fined $12,500 for killing cyclist in Hamilton in 2022
“People need to be more aware of what’s going on around them while driving. Careless mistakes like this could have been prevented,” Strong-Woods said in an email. “People need to know that they can’t kill a person and walk away.”
Driver was looking for cigarettes
After confessing to the police that he was looking for his cigarettes during the 2022 incident, Marco Ferreira, the van driver, recently pleaded guilty to the offense of careless driving leading to a fatality. Rather than facing a criminal charge, he received a fine of $12,500, has been assigned community service, and is prohibited from driving for a period of two years—excluding when he needs to travel to the GO station.
In court, the driver admitted he was “looking for his cigarettes” before he hit and killed Woods. David Shellnutt, a.k.a The Biking Lawyer, attended the sentencing and heard the victim impact statements by family of friends of Woods. “What is clear from today’s sentence is that careless driving, as was exhibited by Mr. Ferrera, has huge ramifications for entire communities,” he tweeted. “10 victim impact statements were read aloud to a teary courtroom. The words of Mr. Woods’ 11-year-old daughter will forever haunt me.”
