OC Transpo driver, supervisor grilled on brake training

Testimony from an OC Transpo driver and supervisor during the Westborobus crash trial hasraised questions about the consistency of training at Ottawa's transit agency, especially when it comes to emergency braking.

Aissatou Diallo, who was behind the wheel of the double-deckerbus involved in the fatal 2019 collision, has pleaded not guilty to all 38 dangerous driving charges against her, including three counts of dangerous driving causing death.

• OC Transpo drivers, footage to play key role in Diallo trial

On Wednesday, court heard from Allan Smith, the OC Transpo operator who had driventhe samebuson the morning of Jan 11, 2019, the day of the collision.

During cross-examination, Smith was asked if he remembered being trained on emergency braking, including any exercises during which he had to deploy the vehicle's emergency brake.

Smith said he had no firm recollection, but said it may have been covered during class. He said he didn't remember ever deploying the emergency brake during training.

Smith, who has worked at OC Transpo since 2017 and drove transport trucks before that, already had an air brake endorsement on his licence, and said he was allowed to skip some of the training because of that.

Training checklist

The defence has raised questions about whether Diallo was ever shown the emergency hand brake on the double-decker.

On Wednesday, assistant Crown attorney Dallas Mack filed a double-deckertraining checklist thatDiallo had signed on July 28, 2018, acknowledgingshe understood and had handled features of the busincluding the hand brake.

During previous testimony, OC Transpo's training manager said he couldn't find anyindication in Diallo's daily training recordsthat she had received specific instruction in the use of the hand brake.

Lindsay Toll, OC Transpo'smanager of training and education, told court drivers are instructed on emergency braking in their first two days of training. Both Toll and Christopher Chenier, another trainer whotestified, said the training takes place at low speeds in controlled environments.

The defence has raised the findings of the 2020 auditor general's report on OC Transpo's new bus operator training, which concludedmore standardized instruction was needed.

'No issues' with bus on morning shift

Smith, who drove double-decker 8155 during the 6-9 a.m. shift on Jan. 11, 2019, testified he'dfound "no issues" with the vehicleduring his pre-trip inspection. Diallodrove the same bus later that day.

Court heard that Smith had told policehe found the brakes on the double-deckers sensitive and prone to locking, especially in icy conditions.

He added in court that he felt the brakes were less problematic by 2018, when OC Transpo began inspecting them every six months instead of annually, as instructed byMinistry of Transportation guidelines.

Smith also told police thatin his opinion,the Transitway speed limit between Tunney's Pasture and Westborostation, which increases to 90 km/h, is too high. In court, he saidthat stretch is too short for those speeds in most situations.