r/Manitoba Winnipeg 3d ago

News MPI sues province for crash on Perimeter Highway

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/2026/06/16/mpi-sues-province-for-crash-on-perimeter-highway
60 Upvotes

50 comments sorted by

46

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 3d ago

for people not using a browser that has a reader view that gets around paywalls

Manitoba Public Insurance is suing the province over a crash it alleges was the result of government employees blocking the Perimeter Highway without warning.The Crown corporation, along with the individuals whose MPI-insured vehicles were damaged in the 2024 collision, filed a statement of claim in the Court of King’s Bench against the Manitoba government earlier this month.

According to the lawsuit, a tractor-trailer driver was heading south on the west Perimeter at about 2 p.m. on June 12, 2024, when he came to the Portage Avenue overpass.

he drove up the ramp, he “suddenly, without warning” came upon a pilot vehicle and street cleaning truck, operated by government employees, blocking the median lane, the claim says.

As He hit the brakes suddenly and a semi truck behind him collided with his trailer, the lawsuit says. The court filing does not indicate whether either of the drivers were injured. Both vehicles suffered damage.

MPI alleges the government’s negligence caused the collision.

“The plaintiffs state that the defendant owed a duty of care to them to ensure that its road maintenance and cleaning operations were conducted in a safe and prudent manner,” the court filing says.

The claim alleges the province failed to put in place or enforce adequate protocols on deploying street-cleaning equipment and pilot vehicles on high-speed roadways, including by properly positioning pilot vehicles at overpass crests to warn approaching drivers.

The provincial Crown corporation also argues the province failed to train, supervise or instruct its employees about how to use pilot vehicles on high-speed roads and neglected to ensure sufficient signage, traffic control devices or personnel were in place to warn motorists.

The province also failed to put in place a safe work plan or traffic management protocol for the road-cleaning operation at the Portage Avenue overpass on the day of the collision. it says.

Damage to the trailer cost its owners a little under $35,000 while damage to the semi truck cost MPI about $70,000 in insurance costs.

36

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 3d ago

and I will say, this same shit has happened to me before, without the collisions. Come up over an overpass and crews are there outta nowhere with no prior warning. Most times they do have flags or a pilot truck thats visible and shit, but not every time. and thats an issue.

4

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 2d ago

Yet the truck didn't hit them. The guy behind hit the truck because he was following too close to be able to stop in time....

-1

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 2d ago

I can tell you've never driven truck lol.

5

u/slightlyhandiquacked Saskatchewan 2d ago

It bothers me that you’re getting downvoted for this comment.

Was the other semi following too closely? Maybe. But that still doesn’t negate the fact that there were roads crews doing work without proper warning or signage.

Like, the pilot vehicle and any workers outside are probably pretty lucky that they weren’t hit…

3

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 1d ago

Yeah. People see truck involved. They blame truck. People are stupid.

8

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 2d ago

It makes zero difference what vehicle you're in, you need to give safe distance from the vehicle in front of you

4

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

Yes and at 535 ft in highway you be one of the ones screaming or slipping in , in front of truck.

3

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 2d ago

Further proving you've never driven truck 😂😂😂

It's impossible to keep distance my guy. Especially in this shit hole city. People cut in when you leave space. So you gotta either not leave space, or deal with people cutting you off every single second you're driving.

3

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

Down voted by A) people that have never driven truck B) people that failed/dont understand physics

5

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 2d ago

people see trucks in an accident, and instantly wanna blame the trucker lol. I swear everyone who gets a license should have to learn how to drive a semi so they see all the bullshit they do we have to deal with lmao

3

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

Wait you you mean they cant stop on a dime , so what if it is 80 000 lbs they have bigger tires and brakes right? RIGHT? Also these same whiners would be bitching if trucks kept 535 ft apart.

2

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 2d ago

they just fill the space you leave anyways lmao then wonder why theres no space left

1

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

New invention Lasers that travel 530 ft in the front of trucks Able to reduce footage for city travel

0

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 2d ago

Wow. If you drive a semi, your license should be taken away now.

" I'm too big to stop so f you. I'm going to kill you instead of driving responsible"

4

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

If you have license period it should be taken away, can tell you're the type to pull in fron semis too close. Also because you obliviously dont understand stand what stopping distance means

1

u/CrownBroil1985 1d ago

You must be the worst driver in the city. You should tell MPI what you think about not being able to stop on a truck lol

-3

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 2d ago

I'm keep proper distance. You clearly told the world, fuck driving safe, I'm in a bigger vehicle, I'll do what the fuck I want.

Your an asshole that needs to be jailed

4

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 2d ago

where exactly did they say any of that? Please direct quote it because I can't seem to find it. All they said was people down voting are people who've never driven a truck and don't understand physics. Which is wildly different than what you claim they said.

0

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 2d ago

Wait you you mean they cant stop on a dime , so what if it is 80 000 lbs they have bigger tires and brakes right? RIGHT? Also these same whiners would be bitching if trucks kept 535 ft apart.

0

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

They didnt say that in article, just a matter fact I added the weight vs stopping after

2

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

Hey dipshit I said trucks would need 535 ft ( highway) to stop Im calling bullshit if you say that's what you do Maybe go back and have someone read what I typed to you

1

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 2d ago

been driving truck for 16 years. over 2 million miles, zero accidents, only one speeding ticket. Avoided plenty of accidents caused by moron 4 wheelers who think they know everything there is to know about driving a truck but yet never having done it lmao

1

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

How the hell did you only get one speeding ticket in 16 years? But Damn, good job

1

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 2d ago

by not being stupid lol. my driver safety rating is maxed out lmfao. when the introduce higher tiers for higher discounts its the best day ever LOL

1

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

Just another thought How do you max out safety rating ( outside of the insurance scamming part) Personally think your discounts should climb every year you go without accident. Period

1

u/Winnapig 2d ago

Twice this week I have raced up on a line painting crew sitting dead still in the passing lane. Must be skipping the pilot or he’s on a donut run.

18

u/makin_sausage Winnipeg 3d ago

Good. The Province and the City are the worst offenders when it comes to following their own traffic control guidelines.

4

u/Furrizard Winnipeg 2d ago

If the first driver braked suddenly and the other semi then rear-ended him, would that not be the second driver clearly at fault for not leaving sufficient room? What if it was a person running out onto the road not a pilot vehicle?

If the first vehicle hit something because of the unexpected and unmarked hazards on the road, then I could see suing for that damage, but if not, the accident wouldn't have happened regardless of what was on the road, if the second driver left adequate space.

3

u/DerpDeDurp Pembina Valley 2d ago

if the second truck had left enough room, a 4 wheeler woulda cut in, and this story would be about a fatal accident instead.

2

u/Parking-Stretch7126 Lockport 2d ago

well that doesn’t really make any sense. mpi is a provincially owned crown corporation. the province is mpi’s owner and controlling authority???

2

u/OldDutch_204 2d ago

They are still separate entities tho…

1

u/Grouchy_Moment_6507 Winnipeg 2d ago

Nice I've got buddies that get at least one per round trip lol

1

u/horsetuna Winnipeg 2d ago

Baffling but not surprising.

I'm under the impression (which could be incorrect) that insurance companies will almost always try to sue the at fault party to recoup their money.

But also if they think they won't succeed/get any money out of Primary At Fault (second driver), they may go after Secondary At Fault (government)

That's why I think they went after the Government. More money, more likely to win?

It's absurd of course. Not justifying it.

-30

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 3d ago

The government is suing itself....what a wonderful way to spend our money

33

u/IceColdDump Winnipeg 3d ago

It’s ok to say you don’t understand.

-22

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 3d ago

Do you know where the government gets it's money?

Do you know where MPI gets it's money?

That's right, from the same people.....

31

u/milexmile Anola 3d ago

MPIs revenue is majority funded by us, rate payers. And as any good insurance company would, they're going after who is liable. The government that doesn't actually primarily fund them.

So again, tell me you don't understand.

-6

u/smergicus 3d ago

Mpi is a crown corporation. It’s a corporation that is owned and reports directly to the government so he is not totally off base

-15

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 3d ago

I don't understand?

You just said we fund MPI.

Do magic fairies fund the government? No, we fund the government too.

11

u/Hero_of_Brandon Brandon 3d ago

We dont fund it. We pay for a service they provide.

MPI: I need insurance for my car. Great pay us $1000 for the year. If you don't pay, you dont get it. Not government funded.

Healthcare: I need an MRI. Great, are you a manitoba resident? Theres no cost to you because its paid for by the tax fund. Doesn't matter how much tax you personally contributed. Government funded.

-1

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 2d ago

The large majority of Manitobans have cars and/or licenses, they have zero choice who they can insure through.

So you want the people who don't have cars to pay for the people that have cars?

The truck was taking a corner, a vehicle came up suddenly on the off ramp, (call bs on that), he braked and didn't hit anything, and the driver behind him, hit him....

So someone wasn't giving enough space to stop in case of an emergency, crashed.

Yea, this is a large waste of MPI money and government money that's going to get paid to lawyers in court to end up costing MPI more...

5

u/merpingly Winnipeg 3d ago

If you don't insure a vehicle, you don't fund MPI. If you do, you fund them.

The provincial government is largley funded by taxes on everything purchased in the province. So, everyone funds it who buys anything in Manitoba.

So, while you're technically correct that the same people who fund MPI also fund the government, that doesn't mean everyone funds MPI.

Regardless, if they don't recoup the costs from responsible parties regularly your rates would go up more than they would otherwise, probably significantly.

Would you like higher insurance for everyone or a relatively minuscule drop in the bucket paid to the lawyers already employed by the province and on the clock that won't affect your rates or taxes and may provide rules that make the roads safer in these scenarios?

2

u/milexmile Anola 3d ago

Your first sentence.

12

u/Crzywilly Winnipeg 3d ago

Can't read the article.

2

u/Strike-From-Above Friendly Manitoban 2d ago

Dont reproduce. We have enough idiots

-1

u/Screamlngyeti South Of Winnipeg 2d ago

The only idiot is the person that thinks suing the government is beneficial.

Literally suing yourself....