MANDATORY DRUG TESTS RECOMMENDED FOR TRUCKERS

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation should "strongly consider" mandatory
and random drug testing of commercial truck drivers, the coroner's jury
into the death of William Stephen Davidson recommended Tuesday.

The five-person jury concluded Davidson died accidentally from
cocaine-induced excited delirium.

The recommendation for drug testing and two others - requiring trucking
companies to educate drivers about the dangers of drug abuse and addiction
and having the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario "strongly
remind its membership" of the legal obligation to inform the Ministry of
Transportation if a patient 16 or older has a condition that impairs his
driving "with particular emphasis on the issues of drug addiction and
substance abuse" - were suggested by David Carruthers, counsel for the
coroner's office.

"(The jury) clearly appreciated the issues we were attempting to address in
the inquest," said Carruthers, adding it's not that common for a coroner's
jury decision to so closely reflect his position.

The jury also recommended giving doctors treating prison inmates full
access to their criminal and medical records, and requiring trucking
companies to subject drivers to a criminal record check before hiring,
keeping an eye out for drug possession and impaired driving convictions.

The jury - Sheila Romeo, George Healy, Christine Deault, Everett Cuming and
Donald White, all from Brockville - was unanimous in its decision.

Davidson was a 45-year-old Brockville resident who died in police custody
on November 15, 2003. He was last seen alive when struggling with police in
a cornfield north of Addison. He was officially declared dead at 9:24 p.m.
that night at the Brockville General Hospital.

This coroner's inquest heard from about 30 witnesses over 21U2 weeks.

The testimony indicated that on the night of his death, Davidson was behind
the wheel of a transport owned by Wills Transfer Limited, for whom he
worked. After being seen behaving strangely on Windsor Drive in Brockville,
he drove his truck north on County Road 29, hitting the car of Trudy
Primeau head-on, injuring her and her daughter.

Davidson was seen by several motorists on County Road 29 driving
erratically and seemingly trying to hit oncoming vehicles.

Officers from the closest OPP detachment soon began a pursuit. After
several dangerous moments, including Davidson nearly running over an
officer who had laid out a spike belt, police caught up with the trucker
when he veered off the road north of Addison, according to police testimony.

Here, a struggle between Davidson and three officers occurred for an
undetermined amount of time until the truck driver lost all signs of life.

Davidson was found to have cocaine in his system, and officers reported he
was unusually strong. Such strength is a symptom of excited delirium, a
state considered a medical emergency because people experiencing it can
suddenly die.

Carruthers said a lot of good can come out of coroner's inquest
recommendations.

"Historically, the implementation rate for coroner's jury recommendations
is very high," he said.

He said the recommendation for drug testing in the trucking industry "has
the most potential to be beneficial in terms of issues of public safety."

Davidson family members, who were present throughout the inquest's
proceedings, were not at Tuesday's verdict reading in Brockville. Dorinda
Davidson, wife of the deceased's brother Brent, said other commitments were
the reason. She and her husband live in Livonia, N.Y. and Davidson's sister
Pam Brown lives in Rochester.

The deceased's sister-in-law said she supports the jury's recommendations.
However, she reiterated the family's position that it was Davidson's
inability to breathe during the struggle with police that killed him, not a
drug-induced delirium.

She cited a tape of police radio communications that night in which
Davidson can be heard saying he can't breathe.

"Stephen was coherent when he spoke those words that were on tape, and he
was ignored," she said.

There were a number of things about the coroner's inquest process she did
not like, she said, such as the unwillingness of the coroner's counsel to
ask, on behalf of the family, about officers' pasts with regard to conduct
or complaints.

She also disagreed with the refusal of the coroner's office to subpoena the
supervising officer who was at the OPP communications centre during the
night of Davidson's death and told officers over the radio to "wait him
out" once the truck had stopped in the cornfield.