Suspended driver sentenced in fatal crash

A Winnipeg man who was medically suspended from driving when he drove through a red light and killed a father of two has been sentenced to one year house arrest.

Maxwell Steinman, 30, pleaded guilty to one count each of careless driving and driving while prohibited for a Feb. 11, 2024, crash that killed 44-year-old Robert Wade Argo.

“I have only myself to blame,” Steinman said in a letter read out at his sentencing hearing last week.

“I know I have to live with this terrible act for the rest of my life,” Steinman said. “The thought of driving again terrifies me. I can’t imagine being behind a steering wheel again. I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

Court heard Steinman was behind the wheel of a 2022 Chevy Trailblazer around 10 p.m., on northbound Lagimodiere Boulevard when he drove through a red light at Cottonwood Road and collided with Argo’s westbound Volkswagen Golf.

“What’s aggravating in the circumstances is that (the light) had been red for 12 seconds” when Steinman drove through it, Crown attorney David Gilleta told court, calling the collision an “unnecessary tragedy.”

Argo died at the scene.

Steinman, who suffered no significant injuries, was taken to hospital, where police officers said he appeared to be sober, and was released without charge.

Only later did it come to light that Steinman was medically suspended from driving at the time of the collision and had been prescribed a dozen medications for anxiety, depression, chronic seizures and other issues.

A subsequent police investigation determined Steinman had been driving approximately 83 km/h — three km/h more than the speed limit — at the time of the collision and made no attempt to brake.

“This was entirely avoidable had Mr. Steinman followed his suspension,” Gilleta said.

Argo’s wife said the couple had just celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary when she received a phone call telling her her husband had died.

“My days are filled with silent tears as I long for what might have been,” Pamela Argo told court. “The only sliver of comfort I can cling to is knowing that one day we will meet again.”

The couple’s young sons send text messages to their father, “hoping this digital world will reach him in heaven,” she said. “They pray to the lord to take care of him and to tell him how much they love him and miss him.”

Argo’s death has left a “deep and emotional void … that can’t be filled,” said his brother Aaron Argo.

“I understand people make mistakes and accidents happen,” he said. “At the same time, this has caused me to reflect deeply on how actions — even unintentional ones — have real and lasting consequences.”

Defence lawyer Martin Glazer said Steinman had been prescribed double the dose of anxiety medication he had previously been taking just days earlier, suggesting it had caused him to fall asleep or lose consciousness prior to the collision.

“My client did not realize the impact on him when he took it,” Glazer said.

Court heard Steinman lives with autism spectrum disorder and continues to reside with his parents.

“As parents of a special needs adult son, we also blame ourselves for not hiding the car keys or thinking that he might get into trouble,” Steinman’s mother wrote in a letter provided to court.

Glazer and Gilleta jointly recommended the one-year house arrest sentence, along with a $8,500 fine and five-year driving prohibition, which provincial court Judge Wanda Garreck endorsed.

“Mr. Steinman should not have been driving that night, there is no question about that,” Glazer said. “He blames himself every day.”

Garreck said it may never be clear why Steinman chose to drive that night or what caused him to drive through the red light, but he must be held responsible for the consequences.

“The sad reality is Mr. Steinman should never have been where he was in the first place,” she said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca