{"id":95849,"date":"2025-08-25T12:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T12:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/95849\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T12:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T12:39:09","slug":"ontario-family-demands-change-after-father-killed-in-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/95849\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario family demands change after father killed in crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of an Ontario father of three killed earlier this month<\/a> by an alleged dangerous driver, who was already facing charges in a collision involving the premier, is trying to channel some of their grief and pain into pushing for stronger laws.<\/p>\n

Andrew Cristillo, 35, was killed Aug. 3 in a head-on crash in Whitchurch-Stouffville<\/a> that also left his wife and their three young daughters injured.<\/p>\n

It should not have happened, said his brother Jordan Cristillo, and he does not want other people to suffer through the same nightmare.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see every weekend, (headlines like) \u2018One dead, two injured,\u2019 these are people\u2019s families that get torn apart and flipped upside down, and we just happen to be one of them,\u201d Cristillo said in a recent interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now I want to turn this pain into purpose and try to \u2013 in honour of my brother, but also in honour of all those other families that are impacted \u2014 put an end to this, because if you have dangerous drivers back on the road, you\u2019re just gambling with other people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three girls are recovering from various physical injuries, but emotionally and spiritually, they have a long road ahead, said Cristillo. All three were under the age of seven at the time of the crash, but in the few short weeks since then, two of them have had to mark birthdays without their beloved father.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident that they\u2019ll continue to (physically) heal and move forward, but it\u2019s more of the life milestones of looking out when you\u2019re doing a recital and not seeing your father in the crowd, or walking down an aisle, and not having your father to walk you down that aisle,\u201d Cristillo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a life-long sentence that this family has now.\u201d<\/p>\n

18-year-old facing charges in fatal crash<\/p>\n

The family has launched a petition calling for Andrew\u2019s Law, listing ways they want to see dangerous driving penalties strengthened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first change we\u2019d like to see is, if you\u2019re being charged with dangerous driving, your licence is revoked until you go through your trial, so that we prevent and protect others on the road from dangerous drivers,\u201d Cristillo said.<\/p>\n

As well, there should be lifetime driving bans for people convicted of extreme dangerous driving, Cristillo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how many more lives need to be ripped apart and families torn apart for the government really to take this seriously,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you know you have people that can\u2019t be trusted behind a wheel, don\u2019t allow them, because driving is a privilege. It\u2019s not a right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaiwin Kirubananthan, 18, was charged with dangerous driving causing death, three counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, failing to remain at an accident resulting in death and public mischief in the crash that killed Andrew Cristillo. He is expected to appear in an Oshawa court on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Police say Kirubananthan is the same person charged after a car hit an Ontario Provincial Police vehicle, in which Premier Doug Ford was travelling on Highway 401 in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kirubananthan\u2019s lawyer could not comment on the circumstances of either case, but said he believes the dangerous driving laws are sufficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe maximum penalty for dangerous driving causing death is life in prison,\u201d Barry Fox said in an interview. \u201cCan\u2019t get much more drastic or draconian than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford says province could strengthen penalties<\/p>\n

There are degrees of dangerous driving, Fox said, and the law already recognizes that with a wide range of possible punishments. When an accused gets released on bail, they may have a driving prohibition attached, Fox said, but it isn\u2019t mandatory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has to be room within the ambit of the law to accommodate different types of dangerous driving,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just can\u2019t take a hammer and say, \u2018You\u2019re off the road for two years (or) five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ford was asked at a news conference earlier this month if he would support strengthening penalties and said he agrees \u201cabsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s long overdue, so we\u2019ll look at it,\u201d Ford said.<\/p>\n

The federal Justice Department can\u2019t comment on the case while it\u2019s before the courts, a spokesperson said, noting that laws around impaired and dangerous driving were strengthened in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong other changes, the penalty for dangerous driving causing death was increased to a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, which is the highest maximum term of imprisonment provided by law,\u201d \u00a0Katelyn Moores said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

People who are convicted of dangerous driving causing death can also receive an order prohibiting them from driving for life, Moores said, adding that the government is \u201calways looking at ways to improve the criminal justice system and to ensure the safety of our roads and highways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mother battling breast cancer<\/p>\n

Ford has called for people across Ontario to support the Cristillo family. Not only have they lost a father, but his wife, Christina, has been battling breast cancer for the past few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat whole uncertainty hasn\u2019t gone away,\u201d Jordan Cristillo said. \u201cWe never imagined that my brother wouldn\u2019t be there with her along each of these steps. So it\u2019s hard to fathom how she feels having to face that uncertainty, but also to not have her best friend and partner, who make her laugh during all the appointments, by her side to get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cristillo said Christina\u2019s cancer diagnosis made his brother determined to create fun, life-long memories as a family. He was always taking his kids on adventures and being present as a hands-on father, Cristillo said. Andrew was the life of the party who always had people in stitches, he said, adding he will miss his brother\u2019s pranks and at times inappropriate jokes.<\/p>\n

Friends and strangers alike have resoundingly responded to a family GoFundMe fundraiser seeking help for medical and other expenses for the girls. More than $500,000 in donations have poured in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As well, the family\u2019s\u00a0Change.org<\/a>\u00a0petition called Implement Andrew\u2019s Law for Safer Roads has garnered more than 10,000 signatures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s signing a petition or supporting the GoFundMe, all those acts, big and small, are really giving our family strength to keep moving forward,\u201d Cristillo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very grateful to the entire community for having our backs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of an Ontario father of three killed earlier this month by an alleged dangerous driver, who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-95849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}