The parents of a boy killed by a car on a Vancouver Island roadside say steps are underway to make “Xavier’s Law” part of B.C.’s legal system
Xavier Rasul-Jankovics was 12 when he was was struck and killed by a car while rollerblading with his family on a rural road near their home in Cobble Hill on Aug. 25.
Zahra Rasul and Josh Jankovics met with B.C.’s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Nina Krieger, Attorney General Niki Sharma, Assistant Deputy Minister and Superintendent of Motor Vehicles Toby Louie, and Juan de Fuca-Malahat MLA Dana Lajeunesse in the legislature on Oct. 23.
Rasul said officials made a commitment to introduce Xavier’s Law, which would toughen up penalties for dangerous drivers, as a bill in either this fall’s legislative session, or the spring session at the latest, and they will seek bipartisan support for it.
“They assured us that they will see it happen,” she said. “They were deeply empathetic for us and said they shared our concerns, I also told them we represented many others from across B.C. and Canada who have lost children to reckless drivers and don’t have a voice who have contacted us, and I said their names.
“It was very emotional for everyone in the meeting.”
Officers from the Shawnigan Lake RCMP were called to the 4100-block of Hillbank Road just after 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 25 after the crash involving Xavier was reported.
According to police, a northbound Honda Civic lost control, hitting the youth before crashing into a telephone pole.
Both occupants of the vehicle, age 17, suffered minor injuries and were transported to hospital for treatment, while Xavier died at the scene in the arms of his older brother Qais and his father.
Rasul and Jankovics have been channelling their grief into seeing Xavier’s Law passed in B.C., as well as pursuing the implementation of other safety and health initiatives in their neighbourhood, and across B.C. and Canada.
Xavier’s Law would change B.C.’s driving laws so that drivers who are accused of dangerous and reckless driving would have their driving licence revoked until they go to trial, and would impose lifetime driving bans on those convicted of extreme dangerous driving.
Rasul and Jankovics had recently met with Premier David Eby, who also has children, about the implementation of Xavier’s Law and Rasul said he cried through the whole meeting.
“He said the government has already started the process of research into it and has begun the legislative groundwork for the new law, and he gave us a commitment that it would be called Xavier’s Law when it is implemented,” she said.
Rasul said she and her husband were also encouraged by the announcement by the federal government on Oct. 23 that new legislation is being introduced that will toughen up bail and sentences for repeat and violent offenders across Canada.
She said part of the new legislation, called C-14, will see increased penalties for dangerous and reckless driving, especially when it causes injury or death.
“They even used language from our proposal for Xavier’s Law in the legislation, and it is encouraging that Nina Krieger and Niki Sharma played a big part in the tightening of penalties at the federal level,” Rasul said.
Rasul said that since the death of Xavier, she has received countless texts, emails and phone calls from women across the country who lost children in similar circumstances.
She said one woman in Langley who contacted her had a daughter killed by a speeding and reckless driver on a rural country road in 2023 and no charges were laid, and she has been told that the driver still retains the ability to drive.
“It makes the implementation of Xavier’s Law more important,” Rasul said.
“That has led me to develop a website where parents who lost children like this can share their stories. The website will keep the memories of their children alive and give people a voice. It will create a community of bereaved parents who can support and connect with each other, and help push for something like Xavier’s Law across the country.”
Rasul said she and her husband have also met with senior executives from ICBC to advocate for safety initiatives to be introduced in the community in an effort to prevent another similar tragedy from occurring, and these issues were also raised in their meeting with government officials on Oct. 23.
She said the couple wants traffic-calming measures to reduce vehicle speeds and volumes on the rural roads there, and on other similar roads across the province.
“There’s also an unpaved road that’s more of a goat trail that connects our neighbourhood to Shawnigan Lake that’s often used by drunk drivers and others who are avoiding the law, and we want that dealt with as well,” Rasul said.
“The driver who killed Xavier came through there at a high speed that day. That goat trail should be blocked off to traffic. There are 32 residences in this neighbourhood and there’s a lot of kids. This is a quiet and rural area and should be a safe place for kids to grow up in. Our suggestions were very well received in the meeting in Victoria.”
Rasul said the family is grateful to the members of the Cowichan Bay fire hall, who were the first rescue personnel on scene after Xavier was struck by the car, as well as the other first responders.
She said she and Jankovics have recently met with Cowichan Bay Fire Chief Robert Grossman and his deputy chief to give their thanks for the firefighters’ quick actions in what she referred to as a very emotional meeting for all concerned, and asked how they can advocate for more and better health-care resources in the region and across the Cowichan Valley.
Rasul said if the area had an advanced life support ambulance in place nearby, there might have been a chance that Xavier could have been saved, but the nearest one is more than 45 minutes away in Nanaimo.
An advanced life support ambulance is a mobile medical unit staffed by paramedics and equipped to perform complex medical procedures and administer a wide range of medications.
These ambulances are sent to critical emergencies, providing a higher level of care than regular ambulances.
“With no ALS ambulance in our community, someone who is critically injured or is dying will probably die,” Rasul said.
“We were willing to help pay for one out of the money that’s been put into the memorial funds for Xavier, but we were told that only the province can fund them. We advocated for that as well at the meeting on Oct. 23 and it was also well received.”