Humboldt Broncos crash sparked safety improvements, but some say more changes are needed

Carol Brons still goes to Humboldt Broncos games every now and then. She and her husband have season tickets, but being there brings back a lot of emotion.

Her daughter, Dayna Brons, was the athletic therapist for the Humboldt Broncos in 2018. That April 6 — five years ago this Thursday — the team was on its way to a playoff game when it crashed into a semi truck that had ran a stop sign.

Sixteen people died, including Dayna, and 13 more were injured.

"I don't like seeing the players' bench," Brons said. "She's not there. She should be there. It should have been her choice to be there or not."

The driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, was a novice trucker. This was his first solo, long-haul trip. Before that, he had a week of training and two weeks of supervision.

Transport Canada data shows the number of people who've died in crashes involving commercial vehicles or buses has remained virtually the same since 2018.

But the crash did force some changes demanded by Brons and other victims' family members.

Brons has been pushing for better trucking standards since Dayna was killed. She and others who've lost loved ones are part of a group called Safer Roads Canada.

She said it has and will help her move forward on tough days, like Dayna's 30th birthday next month.

Back in 2018, only Ontario required training before getting a licence. Today, entry level training is mandatory in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C. and the Northwest Territories.

Courses are available, but not required, in the rest of the country. Mike Millian, president of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada, has a problem with that.

"If you can find somebody who will hire you, you could now operate a truck that weighs up to 140,000 pounds hauling dangerous goods all across Canada with with little to no training," Millian said. "Which obviously is a safety issue for the rest of the people in the trucking industry who are compliant with the laws, and every one of us that's going up and down the road."

Even in provinces with mandatory training, Millian worries there are schools out there offering sub-par training to make money and fill labour gaps. He wants more auditors on the roads and in trucking schools.

"There has to be a fear of getting caught if you're breaking rules and regulations, and there just isn't enough of that fear out there right now," he said.

Earl Driedger, a truck driver training school owner in Saskatoon, says things are better than they used to be, but that it's time to regulate more of the industry.

"I hired somebody from a different province. He was trained to be an instructor. He was worse than one of the students that I had," he said. "Instructor training is inconsistent. Testing is inconsistent."

Saskatchewan Trucking Association executive director Susan Ewart said new semi drivers in the province are better trained than they were five years ago.

"Carriers that I speak to about new drivers that are coming to work in the industry, they definitely say that the skill level of those individuals is much greater today than it was five years ago," she said.

David Horth of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways said improvements have also been made to hundreds of sections of road across the province.

"We've added turning lanes and better lighting. There's rumble strips, more pavement marking at intersections all across Saskatchewan," he said.