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No Charges by Military Police in LAV III Accident That Killed Canadian Soldier |
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Written by Staff
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Thursday, 01 December 2005 |
After an initial investigation, the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) does not plan to lay charges in relation to the LAV III rollover accident in Afghanistan Nov. 24 which claimed the life of Pte. Braun Scott Woodfield, 24, from Eastern Passage, N.S. and injured four other soldiers.
The Canadian LAV III was passing a slow-moving, horse-drawn cart on a highway at approximately 65 kilometers per hour (below both local and CF speed limits) when an oncoming local vehicle turned on its headlights. The driver of the LAV III swerved to avoid it, resulting in the rollover.
It is not uncommon for local Afghan residents to drive without headlights at night. The Afghan driver and vehicle were not identified at the scene. It is not known whether the local driver was aware of the accident.
The CF will still conduct a board of inquiry (BOI) as per normal procedure in cases of death or serious injury. A BOI is an internal investigation that makes administrative findings, determines cause and, if possible, makes recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Access To Information documents obtained by the CBC last week showed that the army was "warned in May 2004 that speed and driver inexperience were frequent causes of rollovers involving the LAV III." A briefing memo prepared for military leaders suggested the armoured vehicle is limited in the type of terrain it can handle.
In the six years the LAV III has been in use, two other Canadian soldiers have died in 10 rollover accidents. As recently as September, a 24-year-old Quebec soldier died when one of the vehicles rolled into a river during a nighttime training exercise in Alberta. Last year in Bosnia, two Canadians were injured when their LAV III rolled into a ravine.
All five soldiers involved in last Thursday's rollover were from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, based in Gagetown, N.B. At least two have already returned to their unit in Kandahar. |
