‘It blew my mind that four lives were taken’

A two-vehicle crash that killed four teenage friends in the Interlake Sunday night prompted outpourings of grief in several communities and calls for safety improvements at the intersection, which was also the site of a death in July.

Recent high school graduates Maya Borsa and Chloe Vermette, both 18, were identified by their families as victims of the collision at Highway 8 and Provincial Road 229, just west of Winnipeg Beach.

“(Chloe) was a very bubbly, loving personality. Always giving, always caring. Her friends meant the world to her,” said her mother, Veronique Vermette, who struggled to comprehend the tragedy when she went to the scene Monday. “We sat in the rain for hours, and it blew my mind that four lives were taken.”

The teens’ parents are waiting for RCMP to provide more information about the cause of the crash. Chloe, who graduated from Windsor Park Collegiate in Winnipeg in July, was driving one of the vehicles, her mother said.

Tom and Bonnie Borsa said their daughter, Maya, a Gimli Collegiate graduate, loved taking care of animals on their farm west of Sandy Hook, and was fiercely proud to be Métis. She wanted to become a doctor or a veterinarian.

“(Maya) was always happy-go-lucky. She had a good spirit and she had a kind heart,” Bonnie Borsa said.

“She had a glow around her that was infectious. She was just the best kid that any parent could ask for,” Tom Borsa added.

The crash happened at about 9:15 p.m. when the car occupied by the teens, headed west on PR 229 while crossing Highway 8, was struck by a southbound van. The intersection has stop signs for westbound and eastbound traffic.

Both vehicles went into the southwest ditch, which Chloe and Maya’s families said was filled with water from Sunday’s heavy rain. Vermette said her daughter’s car, a Pontiac Sunfire, overturned after the impact. The crash occurred after nightfall.

RCMP said all four of the occupants died at the scene. The two other passengers were an 18-year-old Gimli man and a 17-year-old boy who lived in Ear Falls, Ont., and has family in the Interlake.

The four Winnipeg residents who were in the van — the 49-year-old male driver, a woman and two children — were taken by ambulance to Winnipeg to be treated for minor injuries, RCMP said.

An RCMP collision reconstructionist is investigating along with officers from the Gimli detachment.

“Obviously, we’re very sensitive to the families who lost their loved ones,” said Supt. Chris Hastie, commander of Manitoba RCMP’s east district. “We want to get some answers for these families so they can start to process what transpired.”

Vermette said her daughter was a safe and responsible driver. They last spoke on the phone about four hours before the collision, which happened on Labour Day weekend.

“They were all in a good mood — being teenagers and enjoying what’s left of summer,” Vermette said.

She said the group dropped off a friend, who lives near the intersection, shortly before the crash.

“She said, ‘That could have been me,’” said Vermette, who spoke to the young woman afterward. “I asked, ‘How was Chloe?’ She said, ‘She’s a really good driver, I don’t know how this happened.’”

The friend went to the scene after hearing the sirens of emergency vehicles.

“Sure enough, it was the car she had literally gotten out of five minutes ago,” Vermette said.

The Borsas believe their daughter was being driven home after the group went to Winnipeg Beach for ice cream.

They previously told their children to avoid Highway 8 because of past collisions.

“We’ve lived here for 13 years, and Highway 8 has been worse and worse,” Tom Borsa said.

Vermette believes her daughter was ultimately on her way to Teulon, where she previously attended high school and where the teen from Ontario may have been visiting relatives days before his 18th birthday.

Mental health supports were made available to emergency personnel who responded, Hastie said.

“Sunday night was a very traumatic incident for all first responders,” he said, while acknowledging emotional impacts on the teens’ families and several Interlake communities.

After every fatal collision, Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure reviews a brief, which is provided by police, to identify road-related factors that may have influenced the incident, a spokesperson said.

The department then conducts a full review to identify immediate and long-term improvements.

Department staff conducted an investigation at the intersection after an 86-year-old Teulon man died in a two-vehicle crash at about 2:40 p.m. on July 2.

The review is still underway, the provincial spokesperson said.

At the time, RCMP said a westbound sedan, driven by the Teulon man, was crossing PR 229 when it collided with a southbound pickup truck.

“I was very saddened to hear about the tragic collision on Sunday evening. My thoughts are with the families, friends and communities impacted,” Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said in a statement.

She said her department will conduct a review.

“Our priority is to keep our roadways as safe as possible,” Naylor said.

Manitoba Public Insurance has received reports of 24 collisions at the intersection since Jan. 1, 2017, not including Sunday’s incident, spokeswoman Kristy Rydz said. A death occurred in 2021.

Half of the collisions involved wildlife. Failing to yield to the right of way was cited as a major contributing factor in the fatal collisions in July and 2021, MPI said.

Distracted driving or inattention was cited in a different crash. The remaining nine collisions had no identified major contributing factor, Rydz said.

The Borsas, Vermette and local leaders want the province to explore possible improvements, such as better overhead lighting, new stop signs with a flashing red light, or rumble strips on PR 229.

“That highway has had so many (collisions) and no one’s done anything about it,” Vermette said.

Tom Borsa also cited a head-on crash that killed two women in their 20s in January, about seven kilometres south of the intersection where his daughter died.

After previous fatalities, he wondered why the province hasn’t twinned the highway, given increasing traffic volumes, especially during summer cottage season, and safety concerns.

“The whole area is so dangerous,” he said. “(Premier) Wab Kinew definitely needs to address it. If he ever wants to sit down and have a conversation with me, I’d be happy to.”

The province has been installing intermittent passing lanes between Highway 67 and Gimli.

Winnipeg Beach Mayor Terry Calof said Sunday’s collision brought more heartbreak to the close-knit community.

“I’ve encountered quite a bit of frustration that this has happened again,” he said.

While the cause or factors of the crash are not yet known, Calof said he expects the town will formally ask the province to explore whether safety improvements are possible.

“We can’t just do nothing and hope it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “There were rumble strips going west and east on 229 that, over the years, have almost eroded down to nothing. That could be improved on.”

In a Facebook post, the Winnipeg Beach fire department said the intersection has been a longstanding safety concern owing to numerous collisions over the years.

The intersection is on the boundary of the rural municipalities of Gimli and St. Andrews.

“There are four young people who lost their lives in this collision and, quite frankly, there are no words that can truly ease that pain being experienced by the ones who knew them and loved them,” local Tory MLA Derek Johnson (Interlake-Gimli) said.

Johnson said a thorough review of the intersection is necessary.

“We do have to understand that no infrastructure improvement can eliminate every risk, but we do have the responsibility to look at whether additional safeguards could help save lives,” Johnson said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca