‘It just feels like they were worthless’: elderly crash victims’ niece offended by MPI settlement

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This article was published 08/01/2024 (636 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The niece of a couple killed in the June 15 Carberry crash is questioning how Manitoba Public Insurance determined that her aunt and uncle’s lives are worth a settlement of $72,500 each.

“That’s disgusting,” said Chantel Perzylo Uhrich, the niece and one of four beneficiaries of Frank and Rose Perzylo, who had no children.

“It’s not about the money,” said Uhrich, who travelled from her home in Sylvan Lake, Alta. to Dauphin to deliver the eulogy at her aunt and uncle’s funeral July 14. She said they were 80 and 82, respectively, but healthy, vibrant and had a lot of living left to do.

“To me, it just feels like they were worthless. Their lives are worth more than that.”

Uhrich said she found out before Christmas what MPI was offering as a settlement.

The collision involving a mini-bus and a tractor trailer at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 led to the deaths of 17 seniors aboard the bus, including her aunt and uncle, who were on a day trip to a Carberry casino.

It took two weeks for investigators to identify her uncle’s remains, which were burned beyond recognition, an emotional Uhrich said Monday.

Her father, Stanley Perzylo, suffered a massive stroke after learning of the death of his older brother and wife, and he died on July 19, leaving his wife — Uhrich’s mother — a widow, compounding the family’s grief.

Uhrich said her family was “beyond devastated” by the crash and its aftermath.

“We lost two amazing souls in that accident. I lost my dad because he couldn’t handle the loss. My mom will never be the same and I lost a part of me that will never be regained,” she said.

She’s disappointed she wasn’t notified ahead of time about the government news conference to release a consultant’s report Monday in Dauphin on improvements to the dangerous highway crossing. Premier Wab Kinew and Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor were in attendance.

“I would’ve been there as a voice for my auntie and uncle,” she told the Free Press. “I probably would’ve wanted to speak to the premier and the minister.”

Uhrich said she’s looking for accountability about the lack of safety at the intersection, where numerous collisions have occurred.

The 179-page report found the intersection’s design and driver behaviour increase the risk of serious crashes, and listed 34 potential countermeasures to reduce the likelihood of fatalities or injuries.

Some of the concerns raised in the report have been addressed, Naylor noted at news conference. They include refurbished rumble strips, repainted divider lines on the road surface that had faded and new signage installed along the Trans-Canada warning drivers about the intersection ahead.

“My aunt and uncle didn’t have to die that day,” Uhrich said.

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“If the federal government and the Manitoba government made changes years ago, my aunt and uncle would’ve been alive today.”

Uhrich, who lives in Alberta, where there is private auto insurance, said she is puzzled by Manitoba’s public, no-fault insurance system and how it determines settlements and holds those responsible for deaths and injuries accountable.

In 1993, Manitoba followed Quebec’s lead and became the second jurisdiction in North America to adopt a no-fault compensation plan for victims of motor-vehicle accidents; the plan has been in operation since 1994.

MPI spokesperson Kristy Rydz said Monday that the Crown corporation “is working directly with survivors and the families of the victims of this tragedy,” and that its privacy policy prevents it from discussing details related to individual claims.

All Manitoba residents are eligible for personal injury protection plan coverage in Canada and the U.S., with no reduction in the level of benefit based on the degree of fault for the collision, Rydz said in an email.

Depending on the extent of the injuries, they may qualify for coverage of income replacement, as well as expenses related to medical and personal costs, along with those for caregiving, rehabilitation and more, she said.

Families of those fatally injured are entitled to grief counselling benefits up to $4,119, funeral expenses up to $9,851 and lump-sum payments based on the deceased’s age, gross yearly employment income and the age of the dependent children, said Rydz.

Lump-sum payments are indexed to inflation annually and adjusted on April 1 to line up with the Consumer Price Index, she said.

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If the deceased had been unemployed at the time of the accident and would not have been entitled to income replacement benefits, the spouse or common–law partner receives the minimum lump–sum payment of $72,271. If both spouses or partners are killed on the same day, MPI would issue lump-sum payments to the estate of each spouse.

Under Manitoba law, motorists involved in a collision can sue each other for the deductible and liability, if applicable.

MPI says its job is to try to settle cases the way the courts likely would.

“We do this by carefully watching how the courts determine fault, and using decisions with the relevant legislation — the Highway Traffic Act — to settle your claim,” MPI’s website says. “Simply put, we try to assess fault the way the courts would to save you the trouble of pursuing a court case.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.