A Windsor lawyer is seeking a coroner's inquest to examine circumstances surrounding fatal crashes along Hwy. 3 between Essex and Leamington.
Greg Monforton represents Nahim Ibrahim of Windsor, who is suffering from serious injuries following a fatal crash on July 15.
Now Monforton wants to know why the two-lane portion of Hwy. 3 hasn't been widened despite many crashes, even after a concerning study the Ministry of Transportation received in 2006.
"The study concluded that there was a collision severity issue on Hwy. 3," Monforton says. "In the ensuing years, the percentage of fatal crashes on Hwy. 3, between Essex and Leamington, have been almost ten times higher than the provincial average."
Monforton says he's shocked this stretch of Hwy. 3 hasn't been widened as there have been many "ignored or refused" calls to do so. "This is a red flag that's been waiving in plain sight for a number a years," he says.
In April, two people were killed and four others hurt after a single-vehicle crash on Hwy. 3. Area politicians have long been pushing for the widening of the two-lane road.
The purpose of the The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario inquest is to study the issue and make recommendations to avoid death and serious injuries in the future. Monforton says there are many requests and not all are granted.
OPP officers investigate a fatal crash on Hwy. 3 near Morse Rd., April 29, 2015. (Photo by Jason Viau)