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Owner of car involved in triple fatality denies liability

The owner of a vehicle involved in a triple fatality that killed two Whistler cyclists near Pemberton last year has denied lending the car to the driver. Lillooet's Carmen Ned filed responses to two separate civil suits in B.C.
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DENIED The owner of a vehicle linked to a triple fatality near Pemberton that killed two Whistler cyclists denies lending her car out to the accused, Lillooet's Samuel Alec. A memorial ride for slain cyclists Ross Chafe and Kelly Blunden is pictured above. File photo

The owner of a vehicle involved in a triple fatality that killed two Whistler cyclists near Pemberton last year has denied lending the car to the driver.

Lillooet's Carmen Ned filed responses to two separate civil suits in B.C. Supreme Court last month denying she gave permission to the vehicle's driver, Samuel Alec, to take the vehicle on May 31, 2015.

Alec, also from Lillooet, is accused of killing former national cyclist Ross Chafe and Resort Municipality of Whistler IT manager Kelly Blunden in a collision that also claimed the life of a passenger in the vehicle, Pemberton's Paul Pierre Jr. The cyclists were out for a weekend ride on Highway 99 north of Pemberton at the time.

Both Chafe's wife, Lizanne Bussieres, and Blunden's wife, Donalda Blunden, have filed suits alleging that Alec was impaired at the time of the crash and that his negligence led to the cyclists' deaths. Both are seeking unspecified damages from Alec, Ned and the Insurance Corporation of B.C.

In Ned's Feb. 4 filings, Ned denies having given Alec "consent, either express or implied" to use her 1995 Chevrolet Cavalier.

In his own responses, Alec denied liability in the triple fatality and claimed it was the cyclists' negligence that caused the accident. In the separate statements, he claimed the cyclists failed to ride their bikes "with due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for others using the highway."

Police arrested the 43-year-old Alec in August on three counts each of criminal negligence causing death, impaired driving causing death and driving over the legal blood-alcohol level. He was also charged for failing to remain at the scene of the accident. None of the above allegations have been proven in court.