Lawsuits fly over deadly 2008 crash on Wilmot Line

A cross and flowers on Wilmot Line mark the site of the crash that killed Hayley Price-Geddes.

The man convicted of careless driving in connection with a crash in that killed a teenage girl has been awarded a $1.5-million settlement from Wilmot Township.

Timothy Umbach and his family launched a case against the township following crash, claiming the accident could have been less severe, or avoided entirely, had there been more signs posted on the road.

The crash occurred in September 2008, on Wilmot Line.

It killed 17-year-old Hayley Price-Geddes, and left Umbach – also 17 at the time – with serious injuries.

In 2010, Umbach was found guilty of careless driving.

Later that year, his family launched their lawsuit against the township – which came to a close with the settlement reached last fall.

That the township should be out financially over the event doesn’t sit well with Mayor Les Armstrong.

“We’re being punished because of somebody else’s actions,” he said.

“We’re held responsible for people not doing the things that they should be doing.”

Aside from a $10,000 deductible, Armstrong says, the township’s share of the settlement is covered by insurance.

Another lawsuit is pending in connection with the crash – this one against Umbach, from the family of Price-Geddes, who was a student at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School in Waterloo.

“We’re arguing that the driver of the vehicle … was negligent,” family lawyer Jeffrey Strype tells CTV News, adding that the settlement in the case against the township has no bearing on this procedure.

“We’re just hopeful that the case will be resolved and the family can move on.”

The pretrial in that case is scheduled to begin next week.