Regulation brought in after death of Grant De Patie in gas and dash
Ian Austin
Province
Grant De Patie’s parents, Doug and Corinne, worked to bring in the new rules. Gerry Kahrmann file photo – The Province
Pay before you pump.
That’s the law in B.C. come February.
Yesterday, on what would have been gas station attendant Grant De Patie’s 27th birthday, WorkSafe B.C. announced that all fuel in B.C. must be prepaid.
Drivers will have the choice to prepay at the pump — already widely available with credit or gas cards — or pay a station attendant who will pre-load, say, $20 worth of gas that you pump into your car.
De Patie was dragged to his death in 2005 when he ran in front of a late-night motorist who filled up and fled.
Since that fateful night, De Patie’s family has dedicated countless hours determined to stop others from suffering Grant’s fate.
“I’m very happy about this,” said Labour Minister Olga Ilich.
“We have to give a lot of kudos to the family for continuing to work so tirelessly on this to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Along with the pre-paid fuel regulation comes a requirement for all late-night retail outlets that workers have a partner or be locked safely away from the public.
The regulation states that all workers at all retail stores open from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. must have a co-worker or be protected either by a locked door or a barrier.
“While we will live the rest of our lives with only Grant’s memory, our family is proud that, thanks to Grant, other young workers will be safer on the job,” said Doug De Patie, Grant’s father, who worked tirelessly to ensure that rules would be introduced to prevent similar deaths.
Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, called the new regulations the best in North America.
“Despite suffering such personal tragedy, the De Patie and [grandparent] Crellin families worked hard to ensure that no other worker would have to face the same risk their son and grandson did,” said Sinclair.
“Without their support, this regulation would not be here today.”
Darnell Pratt was 16 when he struck De Patie at the Maple Ridge Esso station in March 2005.
Pratt drove off, dragging De Patie 71/2 kilometres.
Pratt pleaded guilty to manslaughter and in May 2006 was sentenced as an adult to nine years minus credit for time served, for a total of seven years and three months.
The B.C. Court of Appeal cut the nine-year sentence to seven years.
© The Vancouver Province 2007