Ottawa bus driver found not guilty in 2019 fatal double decker bus crash

An Ottawa bus driver has been found not guilty of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm in the double-decker bus crash that killed three in January 2019.

Aissatou Diallo, 44, was charged in August 2019 with 35 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and three counts of dangerous driving causing death after the bus she was driving struck an overhead at the Westboro bus station.

RELATED: 3 dead, 23 hurt in Ottawa double-decker bus crash, driver arrested

The trial — which lasted over 10 weeks — ended on June 2 and the verdict was announced Wednesday.

Ontario Court Justice Matthew Webber said sun glare and road markers were a factor in the driver losing control of the bus and rolling onto the pedestrian platform where it struck an overhang on January 11, 2019.

Webber said Diallo was driving somewhat over the speed limit but not dangerously in his verdict.

A number of changes have been made at Westboro Station since the crash, including highly visible black and yellow striping near the platform’s edge and replacing no parking signs with no stopping signs.

Diallo’s lawyer explained that a large portion of the Crown’s case centred around Diallo’s lack of training, which has since been addressed by Ottawa’s Auditor General.

“This case is a wake-up call,” said Solomon Friedman. “[Bus driver training in Ottawa] needs to be adapted, it needs to be standardized, and every recommendation the auditor general made is one that should have been followed in this case, but unfortunately, only came afterward.”

Friedman did acknowledge the immense pain and suffering experienced by everyone who was riding the bus to Westboro Station on January 11, 2019 and their families.

“But at the end of the day, Ms. Diallo is innocent of the charges and that was made very clear today by Justice Webber.”