One week, six crashes, seven Manitobans killed

WINNIPEG — Seven Manitobans have been killed in as many days in crashes on highways or streets, prompting grief in communities and concern from road-safety advocates.

Arborg residents were mourning two people who died in a collision near the Interlake town May 29.

“This is going to be carried by the families and friends for the rest of their lives,” Mayor Peter Dueck said. “It was a tremendous loss, an unimaginable loss for the entire community.”

The seven deaths occurred in six collisions, mainly on highways in rural areas or at controlled intersections, between May 27 and Tuesday. Three crashes happened in municipalities policed by Manitoba RCMP, which did not reveal potential factors amid ongoing investigations.

“It is a lot when we’re talking for a week, the number of fatal collisions,” RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Melanie Roussel said. “It’s tragic and it’s sad this is happening.”

Roussel said 27 people died in 23 collisions in Manitoba RCMP jurisdiction in the first five months of 2026, compared with 24 deaths in 23 crashes during the same period in 2025.

The seven recent deaths include a 49-year-old woman whose SUV was hit by a semi-truck when that vehicle’s driver failed to stop at a stop sign at Highway 110 and Richmond Avenue East in Brandon on May 27, the city’s police service said. Brijpal Panwar, 35, was charged with dangerous driving causing death.

Two days later, a 38-year-old woman and 51-year-old man, both from Arborg, died in a single-vehicle crash east of the community on Highway 68, near Road 14 East. The victims were ejected, RCMP said.

The driver, a 34-year-old Arborg woman, suffered life-threatening injuries, police said.

Dueck said the community rallied around the victims’ families.

“We just need to show up and be there,” he said. “We express our condolences, and we give appreciation to first responders. We owe so much to them.”

The same day, pedestrian Jodi Tianna Bunn, 22, was fatally struck by a vehicle on a road in Birdtail Sioux First Nation, the Manitoba First Nations Police Service said. A woman from the western Manitoba community was charged with impaired driving causing death and other offences.

The week’s fourth fatal crash, involving a vehicle and a motorcycle, happened in the RM of St. Clements on Sunday.

RCMP said the motorcycle was eastbound on Highway 44 when it collided with a northbound vehicle that was crossing on Provincial Road 212

The motorcycle’s passenger, a 70-year-old RM of Brokenhead woman, was killed. The driver, a 66-year-old man, suffered serious injuries.

Police said the vehicle’s driver, a 19-year-old Portage la Prairie woman, did not appear to be injured.

Officers are investigating whether the vehicle stopped at a stop sign on PR 212 before entering the intersection, Roussel said.

On Monday, a 42-year-old Roblin man died in a collision near the western Manitoba community. RCMP believe a van, driven by the man, was headed north on PR 484 when it was hit by a semi-truck travelling west on Road 153 North.

Police are investigating whether the semi-truck stopped at a stop sign prior to the crash, Roussel said. A 31-year-old Roblin man, who was driving the truck, was seriously injured.

The most recent crash happened about 15 kilometres east of the Manitoba-Ontario boundary on Ontario Highway 17 on Tuesday. A 32-year-old Winnipeg man was killed.

He was the lone occupant of an eastbound car that collided with a westbound tractor-trailer, Ontario Provincial Police spokesperson Erin McCrea said.

While the causes or potential factors were not yet known or released in most of the collisions, Manitobans were reminded to drive safely and stay alert.

Roussel urged people not to use their cellphones while driving. Wear seatbelts and do not drive impaired, she added.

“Follow the rules of the road. If you see a stop sign, stop and look both ways. Don’t speed,” Roussel said.

Ewald Friesen, CAA Manitoba’s manager of government and community relations, said the recent fatalities did not go unnoticed.

“When we see a number of incidents such as these all at once, our thoughts obviously go to what is the throughline that we’re seeing here from a road-safety perspective?” he said.

The majority of previous traffic fatalities involved high-risk behaviours, such as speeding, distracted driving or impaired driving, Friesen noted.

“The most serious crashes we see come down to preventable behaviours,” he said. “(Distracted driving) is the road-safety issue that is most strongly correlated with injury and fatality.”

In a recent CAA Manitoba survey, 46 per cent of respondents admitted to driving while distracted.

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Common distractions include cellphones, conversations, eating, applying makeup and unsecured pets, Friesen said.

» Winnipeg Free Press