The father of a Portage la Prairie woman killed nearly two years ago when a jet ski and a pontoon boat collided on a Manitoba river has filed a lawsuit against three men, alleging their negligence caused her death. According to the statement of claim filed in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench, Ashley Danielle Rodgers died on Aug. 10, 2024, after the jet ski she was riding as a passenger rounded a bend in the Whitemud River and collided with an oncoming pontoon boat. The 39-year-old died of a blunt trauma injury, the claim states. The lawsuit, filed on July 20, names her father, David Harold Rodgers, as the plaintiff and seeks damages for the loss of guidance, care and companionship stemming from Ashley’s death on behalf of 11 family members and dependants named in the claim. The claim alleges the operators of the pontoon boat and the jet ski — both named as defendants — were “reckless, careless and negligent” in their operation of the watercraft, causing the fatal crash. It alleges that this includes driving both vessels too fast for the circumstances and failing to maintain visibility. “The plaintiff says and alleges that it was foreseeable for the river to contain water vessel traffic travelling north and south during (that) afternoon … and that a driver approaching opposite would create a hazard to oncoming traffic,” the statement of claim reads. The claim states the river presented blind bends and corners to watercraft operators but says weather conditions were pleasant, visibility was clear, and that the river was wide enough for both vessels to pass each other without colliding. The lawsuit places the site of the crash about 600 metres north of a section of Road 81 N in the Rural Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone, based on coordinates cited in the filing. According to an RCMP news release from the time, investigators determined a northbound boat with five occupants and a southbound Sea-Doo with two occupants collided as they came around a bend. No injuries were reported among those on the boat, the release said, but both occupants of the Sea-Doo were taken to a nearby campground for emergency medical services. Ashley was pronounced dead at the scene, and the Sea-Doo’s operator — then 31 — was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The release did not say who was at fault for the collision. An RCMP spokesperson told CTV News no criminal charges were laid in relation to the incident. The lawsuit also names the jet ski’s owner — the third man named as a defendant — alleging he was negligent in giving the operator consent to drive it without confirming he was qualified to do so. It further alleges he failed to warn the operator that the river contained blind bends or to tell him to stay close to the shoreline and slow down when navigating them, among other allegations. The claim states Ashley worked as a health-care aide who supported her two children, and that they lost her income support as a result of her death. The lawsuit also seeks funeral and burial expenses, along with interest and costs. None of the three men have filed a statement of defence, and the online court registry does not yet list legal counsel for them. None of the claims have been tested in court.
