Scholarship established in name of trucker killed in highway tragedy

GANANOQUE, Ont. — The memory of a truck driver who died on an Ontario highway last week will be forever preserved thanks in part to the Ontario Trucking Association.

David Virgoe, who died in a crash caused by street racers on Highway 400 just north of Toronto, is a true hero says the OTA.

The association is honoring the trucker by establishing a scholarship endowment of $40,000 for children of Ontario truck drivers who are killed or seriously injured on the job. The announcement was made in Gananoque, Ont. where the OTA board of directors met last week.

Virgoe, who drove for Wilburn Archer Trucking, lost control of his tanker truck, which jacknifed after being cut off by one of three speeding cars racing on the highway. Police says Virgoe was able to steer away from the center guardrail and avoid oncoming southbound traffic before crashing into a ditch.

“That truck driver is a hero. There’s no doubt in my mind,” witness Colleen Bannerman told reporters at the scene.

OTA President David Bradley said: “Mr. Virgoe’s selfless act and the kind of person he was epitomizes all that is good about the trucking industry. He was a model trucker, always willing to stop and provide assistance at roadside, a father, a grandfather and a decent human being.”

“He, like all truck drivers, faced risks every day he was out on the road. Sadly he made the supreme sacrifice because of the reckless actions of a few others. But, in doing so he saved the lives of others.”

The perpetual scholarship fund will be administered by the OTA Education Foundation, established by the association to provide scholarships to children of trucking industry families for offsetting the cost of post-secondary education.

Twenty-year-old Prabhjit Multani and 19-year-old Nauman Nusrat have been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, criminal negligence causing death by street racing, and criminal negligence causing bodily harm by street racing.