Semi driver charged in fatal collision

The driver of a semi-truck is in custody after a 49-year-old woman was killed in a multi-vehicle collision at the intersection of Highway 110 and Richmond Avenue East Wednesday afternoon.

Brandon police said Thursday that an investigation determined that a northbound semi-truck failed to stop at a stop sign along Highway 110 at around 3:20 p.m.

The truck collided with a westbound SUV at highway speeds, and the force of the collision caused the vehicles to collide with a parked semi-truck that was facing south, police said.

First responders pronounced the driver of the SUV dead on scene.

Neither semi-truck driver appeared to have any significant injuries.

Brijpal Panwar, 35, who was driving the northbound truck, has been charged with dangerous driving causing death. He remains in custody.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor told the Sun Thursday that the trucking company that the driver of the northbound vehicle was working for should not have been allowed to operate in Manitoba.

She said the company had its safety fitness certificate removed by the provincial government in 2021, but was allowed to get a new certificate in Alberta.

The company, which she did not name, was “irresponsible,” she said.

“I believe that when one province takes away a company’s safety fitness certificate, they should not be allowed to immediately open or to immediately get that certificate in another province, while they’re still located in our province and operating here.”

Naylor said she has been urging the federal government to create a database so all provinces can have a transparent view of motor carrier safety performance across the country.

Police said the deceased driver’s next of kin had been notified.

“Brandon Police Service would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones affected by the fatal collision that occurred yesterday,” BPS said.

Canada Packers, which operates its pork processing plant just east of the intersection, said the company and its staff are grieving the loss of a colleague.

“We are heartbroken by the loss of our Team Member. She was part of our Brandon family and she will be deeply missed,” the company said in a statement to the Sun.

“Our thoughts are with her husband, her family, and everyone who loved her. We are supporting our Team Members through this devastating time.”

Canada Packers is supportive of any measure to improve safety at the intersection and in the community, the company said.

Tarps have covered traffic lights at the intersection since last summer. The lights were scheduled to become operational this summer, Naylor told the Sun in February.

Naylor said Thursday the timeline for the traffic lights to be turned on is still this summer, as one part has been delayed and there’s an issue with a nearby rail line’s signalling. She didn’t say what the delayed part is when asked.

“We are focused on the safety of the highways, the safety of that intersection,” Naylor said.

Officials from her department will also review what took place from a safety perspective “to ensure that we make our highways as safe as possible,” she said.

In February, she said the intersection is already considered “safe” and is operating under appropriate traffic controls. The lights, she said, “will make it safer.”

Asked on Thursday if she still has the same opinion, Naylor said: “The intersection is operating with stop signs and flashing red lights, and we are reviewing it again, given the context of what happened.”

Naylor said it was important that she expresses her sympathy to the woman’s family.

Wednesday’s collision marks the second fatal crash at the intersection in the last five years.

In October 2021, one person was killed in a three-vehicle collision after a car failed to stop at a stop sign along Highway 110.

Both roads have 90-kilometre-an-hour speed limits that decrease to 70 km/h near the intersection. Stop signs with flashing red lights are in place for drivers along Highway 110, while drivers on Richmond don’t need to stop.

Police said Wednesday’s crash is the fourth recorded collision at the intersection this year, and that there were seven collisions in 2025.

Seven of those accidents since 2025 caused injuries or fatalities, data provided to the Sun show.

Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett said the collision is “a massive tragedy” and that his thoughts are with the woman’s family.

“It’s so sad for any family, person, for anybody that goes out and doesn’t come home,” Fawcett said.

While traffic lights are supposed to be activated this summer, Fawcett said he thinks that officials will take a closer look at what happened and at what can be done.

“It is still a controlled intersection there and … there may have been human error, and human error has been very difficult to overcome.

“So, what are the things we can do about that?” he said.

“I imagine there’ll be a lot of questions that’ll get asked about semi operations on the roads, and those get looked into very seriously.”

He said he hopes that the traffic lights will make a difference once they are operational.

Last year, occupants of a car involved in a crash were described by the Brandon Police Service as being lucky to be alive.

Another crash in 2014 between two semi-trucks sent one driver to hospital and caused 10,000 litres of diesel fuel to be spilled on the roadway.

» alambert@brandonsun.com