Regina truck driver told police light was green before fatal crash

The Regina truck driver accused of striking and killing a woman in a bus shelter told police the traffic light remained green as he travelled through the intersection in court.

Biniam Emaha is charged with dangerous driving causing the death of 19-year-old Marvellous Ugochukwu in 2025.

Read more:

• Regina trial begins for truck driver in fatal bus shelter crash
• Truck that hit bus shelter killed 19-year-old woman, Regina police say
• Regina’s police chief hopes arrest in fatal bus shelter crash brings ‘solace’ to victim’s family

It’s alleged that he drove through a red light at the intersection of Dewdney Avenue and Elphinstone Street, which resulted in the fatal crash.

The second day of Emaha’s trial took place at Regina Provincial Court.

A recording of the statement Emaha gave to Regina police was played in the courtroom.

Emaha said he had lived in Canada for just over two years when he gave his statement to police around 4:30 p.m. Oct. 12, 2025.

He said he and his wife came from Eritrea, a country in Eastern Africa, and have two children.

The bus shelter on Dewdney Avenue and Elphinstone Street was destroyed when it was hit by a freight truck in October of 2025. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)

Emaha said he worked as a delivery truck driver contracted by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

He said he was taking items from the Pasqua Hospital to the Regina General Hospital around noon the day of the crash.

Emaha told the officer the light was green as he approached the intersection at Elphinstone Street and Dewdney Avenue.

He said the light remained green as he drove through the intersection.

Emaha said he struck the grey car, which spun around as the delivery truck veered off Dewdney Avenue.

The bolts on the Dewdney Avenue and Elphinstone Street bus shelter are all that remain after the crash. (Gillian Massie/ 980 CJME)

He said he knew he had hit a bus shelter as the truck came to rest on flattened fence boards and residential lawns.

“Someone turned off my car; I was shocked,” he said.

Emaha wiped his eyes and sat with his hands in his lap in the Regina police investigation room.

“It must be very hard,” the officer said, and Emaha agreed.

City traffic light coordinator says sequence failure ‘not possible’

Photographs presented in court showed the road was slick with rain on the day of the 2025 crash.

Michael Brodt, the City of Regina’s traffic signal coordinator, testified that only a “torrential downpour” or fog could cause the light’s sensors to break down.

He said it was “not possible” for the traffic lights to malfunction when asked by defence lawyer Foster Weisgerber.

Brodt said there are systems, including a malfunction monitoring unit, that prevent the traffic lights from failing.

He said city crews do regular checks and clean the sensors to prevent any breakdowns.

Brodt said there was no indication the lights had malfunctioned the day of the fatal collision on Elphinstone Street and Dewdney Avenue.

Brodt said crews manually inspect the lights to make sure they are timing out properly.

He did not know when the light’s sensors were last inspected before the October 2025 crash.

Regina police lead investigator says crash caused by not obeying red light

Sergeant Tanner Maurice testified as the lead investigator with Regina Police Service investigating the crash.

A report was prepared on the collision using data from Event Data Recorder (EDR) and other evidence.

Maurice said an EDR keeps track of data from the vehicle’s safety functions leading up to a crash. An EDR does not take video or audio recordings, but can reveal details like a vehicle’s acceleration or speed.

The delivery truck did not have an EDR, but the grey car did.

Maurice was able to determine certain information about the truck based on information from the car’s EDR.

Data recorded showed the truck was travelling at 58 kilometres per hour, above Dewdney Avenue’s 50 km/h speed limit, when it struck the grey car.

The grey car was travelling at 33 km/h when the truck collided with it.

“Both drivers should have been able to see each other,” Maurice said, noting there were no trees or objects causing blind spots on the road.

SGI inspected the truck and found there were no defects to the brakes and the windshield wipers were working.

Maurice said he found there was no sign that Emaha slammed on the brakes after the collision.

“I cannot rule out there wasn’t braking, but it wasn’t urgent,” he said.

Maurice concluded Emaha was speeding at 58 km/h on the road, though not excessively. He found the truck took about five seconds to hit the bus shelter after colliding with the grey car.

The sergeant said EDR data showed Emaha steered away from the car moments after hitting it.

Maurice determined the crash was caused by the driver not obeying the red light.

He added the first crash with the grey car would have slowed the truck to 50 km/h.

Maurice said if Emaha had urgently braked after the first crash, the truck would have stopped one metre short of the bus shelter.

The sergeant will return for cross-examination on Wednesday morning.