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Could Fatal Accident on Hart Been Avoided?

By Ben Meisner

A Parksville BC resident says he warned Prince George RCMP there was a drunk driver on the highway some ten minutes before a truck slammed into a disabled car parked on the Hart Highway, killing a five year old boy. 

Murray La Plante says he was following the truck along the highway and it was weaving from both sides of the road and at some points nearly went off the highway. He says was able to pull the truck over and pleaded with the driver to not drive any further because he was drunk. He said the pick up driver shrugged him off and LaPlante says "I drove fast to try and make sure that I stayed in front of him. I hit a road check when I reached the city of Prince George and at that point I told the officers what I had just witnessed."

He says the officers appeared to "shrug him off"

From pictures on TV, La Plante says he was able to confirm it was the same truck that he had witnessed. 

5 year old Brian Bishop died in the crash, his parents 35 year old Michael Bishop and 28 year old Tanya Fitzpatrick are in hospital in Vancouver. 8 year old Richard Fitzpatrick survived the crash. 

The driver of the 1991 GMC pick up that hit the Fitzpatrick’s car is from Mackenzie. 

He suffered a broken leg in the crash. 

RCMP in Prince George saying the comments from La Plante are his and he is entitled to make them. They had no other comments.
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