Another family has been shattered by impaired driving—this time on Toronto’s Highway 401. In the early hours of Sunday morning on May 18, 2025, three young siblings lost their lives when a speeding vehicle driven by 19-year-old Ethan Lehouillier allegedly crashed into their minivan at the Renforth Drive off-ramp. Their mother, a family friend, and another child were also hospitalized.
The details are harrowing: police say Lehouillier lost control of his Dodge Caravan, jumped a median, and slammed into the victims who were stopped at a red light. He now faces 12 criminal charges, including three counts of impaired driving causing death. He appeared in court this week via video and remains in custody.
This is more than a headline—it’s a devastating reminder of what’s at stake when someone chooses to drive impaired.
As MADD Canada CEO Steven Sullivan told CBC, it’s especially difficult to reach young men with impaired driving prevention messages. Despite countless public awareness campaigns and alternatives like rideshares, far too many still make reckless, fatal choices.
The data shows the pattern. This latest crash echoes tragedies from 2015 and 2020, where young children and entire families were killed by impaired drivers. And yet, here we are again.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford called for the “harshest punishment possible.” But beyond justice, we need a societal shift—more education, stronger enforcement, and emerging technology like built-in sobriety tests in vehicles.
There’s no undoing this loss. But there is still hope in prevention.
Every time someone chooses to drive sober, they choose life—not just their own, but someone else’s child’s, someone else’s parent’s.
It shouldn’t take another tragedy to remind us. But it always seems to.
If you or a loved one was involved in a collision caused by an impaired driver, please contact JEWELL RADIMISIS JORGE LL.P for a free consultation. Let our team help you and your family through this extraordinarily difficult time!