| |
One-Year Anniversary of Fatal Car Crash
June 24, 2010
By Dan Ferguson
The family of Surrey crash victim Sanjeeve Sharma is planning to move.
There are too many painful memories for them to remain in the house where Sanjeeve once lived, so they are
building a new one.
The 15-year old Surrey resident died on June 29, 2009 when the car he was riding in hit a traffic island near
the intersection of 128 Street and 82 Avenue, then sideswiped a second vehicle before it collided with a lamp
standard.
Father Sanjay Sharma said the last time he saw his oldest son, Sanjeeve was standing on the patio deck,
smiling.
He can’t even look through the window at the patio now.
“Its a great view with mountains and all,” Sharma said. “But I can’t go on the deck. I can’t do barbecues.”
He said the new house, when it is completed this fall, will have a room for the good memories.
Sanjeeve will have a bedroom in the new house, and everything in it will be just the way it was in the old
house, all the furniture including his beat-up computer chair.
Those memories are happy ones.
Sharma remembers the tall teenager would be hunched over his computer keyboard, trying to focus on his
online chats, when Dad would tease him and try to break his concentration by bouncing on the bed to bug him.
On Tuesday, June 29, the family and friends of Sanjeeve Sharma will mark the first anniversary of his death by
visiting the location of the crash that claimed his life. They will go to the intersection between 8:30 p.m. and
10:05 p.m. and place a memorial at the scene.
There will also be a new memorial video posted on sanjeevesharma.com.
Anyone who wants more information about the event can visit the website or email sanjfx@shaw.ca.
No criminal charges have been laid yet in the case, but the family has filed a lawsuit against the teenage driver
of the Chevy Malibu who gave a ride Sanjeeve Sharma .
It also names the driver of a BMW SUV involved in the collision that caused Sharma’s death and accuses them
both of driving contrary to the restrictions on their licences.
It accuses both drivers of speeding, failing to use adequate lights, brakes or the car horns, driving without due
care, failing to obey traffic controls, failing to heed weather conditions and driving contrary to restrictions on
their drivers licences.
The lawsuit also names the owners of the two vehicles who were not at the wheel when the crash occurred.
Since his son died, Sanjay Sharma has become an outspoken campaigner for tougher regulation of new
drivers.
He wants better enforcement of driving rules that require new drivers to have an adult supervisor sitting beside
them who is at least 25 years old and has a valid driver’s licence.
Those regulations would have applied to the then-16-year-old who was driving the Malibu Sanjeeve was riding
in.
dferguson@surreyleader.com
© Copyright 2010 Surrey North Delta Leader
|
|
|
