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Baljeet Dhaliwal has pleaded not guilty to dangerous operation causing death; horrific collision caught on viral video
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Published Apr 14, 2026 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minute read
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The aftermath of a multi-vehicle crash on Derry Rd., just west of Rexwood Rd., in Mississauga on Thursday, June 8, 2023. Photo by ERNEST DOROSZUK /TORONTO SUN FILESArticle content
The Brampton judge warned observers in the courtroom and online that the fatal crash video would be hard to watch.
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“Brace yourselves,” said Ontario Superior Court Justice David E. Harris. “It will be troubling.”
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And so it was. But David Smith knew all too well what to expect. It took him months after the June 8, 2023, collision to watch the horrific viral dashcam footage posted online of the MiWay transit bus slamming into stopped traffic on Derry Rd. near Rexwood Rd.
Crushed in the ensuing mangle of metal was a grey Nissan Rogue being driven by his beloved sister,
David Smith, brother of Sharron Williams. MICHELE MANDEL/TORONTO SUN
“It’s hard knowing that’s the last moment of her life right there,” her brother says softly.
Mississauga Transit driver Baljeet Dhaliwal has pleaded not guilty to dangerous operation causing death at her judge-alone trial that began in Brampton this week. Attending court were Smith and his relatives, all wearing T-shirts with the smiling photo of Williams and the words “Forever in our hearts.”
Williams, 50, was a youth social worker and mother of a son who was on her way to work.
Sharron Williams. arbormemorial.ca Photo by arbormemorial.ca /TORONTO SUN‘Focal point of our family’
“She can’t be replaced,” her brother explained outside the courthouse. “She was a focal point of our family.”
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That morning, Kennedy Bening got on the eastbound Mississauga bus on Derry Rd. and said he could see the driver on her phone while they were stopped before she put it away. A few minutes later, he was suddenly thrown onto the ground when the bus plowed into stopped traffic.
“There was a red light. Every car must be stopped,” he testified. “She didn’t stop.”
The crash sent nine people to hospital; Williams was pronounced dead a short time later.
After the impact, Bening got up off the bus floor and went to check on Dhaliwal, who told him she was okay. Later, as they all stood outside the damaged bus, he said he overheard her tell her supervisor that “it was brake failure.”
That’s expected to be the hotly contested issue at her trial.
In his cross-examination of Bening, defence lawyer Dan Stein warned the court that he would be showing the video to the witness.
Williams’ brother was prepared.
There was no sound as the footage from inside the bus was played on the courtroom monitor. Bus No. 1308 appeared not to slow down as it travelled toward the stopped traffic before inevitably bulldozing into the back of the Nissan, pushing it forward into another SUV and a taxi, causing a chain reaction pile-up.
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Meanwhile, the bus continued to barrel forward before finally coming to a stop on the sidewalk, its shattered window obscuring the wreckage outside.
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Accused was treated in hospital and released
Dhaliwal, 49, was treated in hospital and released. Placed on leave from her job with Mississauga Transit, she was charged four months later following an investigation by Peel Police.
Darren Ridings, senior manager for transit maintenance in Mississauga, said he wasn’t aware of any brake issues with bus No. 1308 and the records showed there were regular inspections that revealed no problems. Asked if it was possible that a record could be missing, he said it was “highly improbable.”
MiWay mechanic Jason King testified he was called to the crash scene that morning where he found a bus “in terrible condition. The whole front of it was smashed.” The police told him they were having trouble getting it towed because the brakes were not releasing.
He could hear an air leak at the front of the damaged bus which he said was causing the emergency brake to be stuck on, he explained. He had another technician hoist the bus and take off the tires so he could reach and remove both rear brake pads.
“Everything looked fine,” King said.
A Crown expert is expected to testify Thursday on the state of the brakes.
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