After colliding with a van on Highway 69, Sandra Lautenschlager regained consciousness, then touched herself to make sure she was still alive.

The Sudbury woman turned her head to where her cousin was sitting. He wasn't so lucky.

While Lautenschlager survived with 50 stitches in her foot and an injured back, the accident killed her 14-year-old cousin, Florian Kappler, who was visiting from Germany.

Kappler is one of many who have lost their lives since the '70s along what victims' families call the Highway of Death.

July 22, 1994, was the perfect summer day when Lautenschlager decided to take her cousin to Canada's Wonderland, just outside Toronto.

It would be Kappler's first time at the popular tourist destination. But neither of them would ever arrive.

About 20 km north of Parry Sound, around the Still River bend, another driver began passing traffic.

"She passed a pile of cars and didn't realize her right to pass was over," said Lautenschlager.

The other driver and Lautenschlager did not see each other until the driver pulled around the corner.

"The minute I saw that woman coming towards me, I kissed my ass goodbye," she said.

Lautenschlager looked to where she could make a quick escape: there was a car beside her and a truck behind.

"So, I was going to get sandwiched in between two cars," she said.

Instead, Lautenschlager swerved into the next lane and struck a van.

She was later told by witnesses her vehicle did a couple of doughnuts across the highway.

But Lautenschlager said the accident wouldn't have happened if Highway 69 had four lanes.

"She would have had her own passing lane," she said, of the oncoming driver.

Now, Lautenschlager says she tries to avoid Highway 69 as much as possible. In the past eight years, she has only driven along the highway twice.

- - -

Since 1999, more than 40 people have lost their lives along the treacherous stretch of road that connects Sudbury to the 400 that leads into Toronto.

This year alone, 10 people have died on the highway, leading to renewed calls for four-laning the vital roadway, which links Sudbury to Toronto, Ontario's and Canada's economic capital.

Like Lautenschlager, Ann Makitalo is a survivor of what some call the Highway of Death. On March 17, 1995, Makitalo and her three children were travelling to their home in Estaire from Sudbury.

A car driver travelling in the opposite direction swerved into Makitalo's lane, where Stop 69 was located, and hit her station wagon head on.

"If the highway was four-laned, I could of gone into the next lane and avoided the vehicle," she said.

If Makitalo was able to avoid the oncoming vehicle, the driver's life may have been spared. The driver died and Makitalo's vehicle was compacted.

Makitalo didn't escape without harm. Both her legs, left hip and right knee were crushed by the impact.

"I have three kids, two of whom were in the hospital," she said. "I could have lost them all that day."

Her children were not seriously harmed and today live a normal life.

But after the accident, Makitalo, who used to work as a cook in a restaurant in Alban, could no longer stand on her own. Now, she relies on a walker to get around and has to wear an air cast on her left leg.

- - -

Over the years, police officials and paramedics who are the first to arrive at the scene have encountered numerous accidents similar those experience by Makitalo and Lautenschlager.

For retired OPP sergeant Ron Roy, attending the scene of fatal car accidents in his 31 years of service was sometimes overwhelming.

"You've got kids at home and you realize the vulnerability of life," he said.

From experience, Roy said the majority of accidents along Highway 69 are caused by driver error.

"A lot of the highway is unforgiving," he said. "If you get into problems, you've got nowhere to go. If you go off the road, you're into a rock cut."

Now that the stretch of highway from Parry Sound south to the 400 and Toronto will be four-laned, Roy said the Ontario government has no choice but to do the same from Sudbury to Parry Sound.

"You're going to have traffic coming all the way to Parry Sound (from Toronto) at 120 km and then having to slow down," he said.

In the end, more accidents will likely occur in this area, where four lanes of traffic become two lanes.

"You've mentally left the south of Toronto at a certain speed, then all of a sudden, north of Parry Sound, you're crawling at 70 or 80 km," he said. "You're going to take that extra chance."

Tim Beadman, director of Emergency Medical Services for the City of Greater Sudbury, said the summer months have been busy for paramedics.

If Highway 69 was four-laned, "we would definitely see a reduction in the series of calls that we go out for in motor vehicle accidents," he said.

Beadman said the section of the Highway near Killarney is a dangerous stretch.

Ron Henderson would agree. Henderson said his sister and two nephews would be alive today if Highway 69, particularly near Killarney, was four-laned.

On Aug. 7, Kelly Anne Henderson and her two twin sons, Corbin and Jordin Sauve, 12, from Sudbury were killed in a collision with a tractor-trailer near the Killarney turnoff.

"I know of many accidents that have happened in that corner," said Henderson. "I've gone around that corner a thousand times going north.

"You can see the southbound traffic, particularly transports, have a hard time negotiating that corner."

He said drivers don't anticipate the corner because the passing lanes end just before.

Henderson said he wants the provincial government to announce a firm date for all of Highway 69 to be four-laned.

Dan Sauve, the father of the twin boys, said something has to be done immediately to stop accidents at that corner. Lowering the speed limit could prevent further incidents.

"At least slow them (drivers) down for now," Sauve said. "And eventually, four-lane and straighten (the corner) out."

Speed is a factor many believe is the cause of accidents along the highway.

Regardless of what is planned for Highway 69, said Beadman, drivers must be educated and drive according to the road conditions, especially when there are high amounts of traffic.

Bill Biggs, owner of the French River Trading Post for 47 years, is a witness to the increasing levels of traffic along Highway 69 .

"We drive this highway almost daily back and forth into Sudbury," Biggs said. "

North of Killarney one day, I was going into Sudbury and I met three cars coming at me: one on the slow lane, one in the passing lane and another passing both of them."

Accidents are not caused by the highway, but by speeding, impatient drivers, Biggs said.

Educating the public would accomplish more and save more lives in the short term than four-laning the highway, he said.

"It's atrocious the way people drive on this highway."

The main reason for the high number of accidents is the speed at which the drivers are travelling, he said.

Biggs said drivers travelling at 130-km an hour is not abnormal on the highway.

"People take tremendous chances," he said.

"And for what reason? To save themselves 30 seconds at the time they get to Sudbury."

DRIVER BEHAVIOUR

Nevertheless, the death toll on Highway 69 is higher than most other highways, said Gerry Goegan, president of G2 Commercial Services Ltd.

Goegan is conducting a study on traffic flow and driver behaviour on Highway 69.

"It's going to be a very unbiased study to figure out why people are getting hurt on that highway," he said.

Goegan will compare statistics with other highways, particularly statistics from Highway 11 from North Bay and south. Much of Highway 11 has been four-laned in recent years.

If the numbers are higher, Goegan said he will then try to determine the reason, either driver or highway related.

The study will take until December to complete; however there is no set date, he said.

Goegan, who is doing the study as his own expense, is asking for the public's input. He wants useful information, comments or experiences people have had travelling along the highway.

People can submit comments by logging on to the Web site, www.g2commercialservicesltd.com.

THE LIST

A list of 46 fatalities on

Highway 69 between Sudbury and Parry Sound from Jan. 1, 1999, to present:

- Aug. 7, 2002: Kelly Ann Henderson, 37, of Sudbury and twin sons Corbin and Jordin Sauve, 12.

- July 28, 2002: Motorcyclist Kenneth Bencsics, 43, of Walsingham, Ont., was travelling north on the highway when he struck a moose.

- July 14, 2002: Chin Lin, 44, of Vancouver, and Jose Botero Gallo, 56, of Toronto, were killed when a Ford F150 pickup collided with a Plymouth Voyageur.

- July 6, 2002: Jacques Cronier, 46, of Hanmer, was driving a transport loaded with gasoline and diesel fuel just north of Pointe au Baril that collided with another vehicle.

- June 18, 2002: Murray Lashbrook, 41, of Parry Sound, dies in a five-vehicle pile-up near Parry Sound.

- June 9, 2002: Marjorie Evelyn Holtby, 75, of Parry Sound, and Gary Geartz, 62, of Lockport, N.Y.,were killed in a four-vehicle crash between Muskoka Road 38 and Twelve Mile Bay Road

- Sept. 18, 2001: Karl Chaffey, 38, of Elliot Lake is killed when his pick-up truck collides with a tractor-trailer about 1 a.m. about eight km south of the Killarney turn-off.

- July 30, 2001: Linda Mahon, 52, of Toronto Lake Road, was killed in a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 69 at Toronto Lake Road, south of MacTier, about 4 p.m.

- June 7, 2001: Kathryn Snow, 52, of Sudbury, a Victorian Order of Nursing (VON) palliative care nurse and co-worker Cindy Benoit, 39, of Lively, were headed south to visit a client when their car collided with a tractor-trailer just north of the Stop 69 Restaurant. Snow was killed in the crash. Benoit died of her injuries July 7.

- June 3, 2001: Rita Csonka, 25, of Thornhill, a passenger in a northbound Toyota Corolla, died when her vehicle collided with a southbound Honda Civic about 11 a.m. 10 kilometres south of MacTier June 3.

- June 2, 2001: Five Hamilton-area people are killed when a southbound Chevrolet Cavalier tried to pass a tractor-trailer about 2:30 a.m. north of Harris Road near Britt, and collided with a northbound cube van. Dead are the Cavalier's driver Saeed Mosavi, 20, of Hamilton, and passengers Chaaya Patel, 21, of Ajax, and Eric Balusiak, 21, Juan Aguilar, 19, and Abdul-Muhsin,17, all of Hamilton.

- May 20, 2001: Cyclist David Tye, 53, of Seguin Township, was struck and killed by a southbound van about 7:50 p.m. near Parry Sound.

- Feb. 19, 2001: Katherine Riddle, 24, of Elliot Lake was killed and two others injured in a three-vehicle collision.

- Dec. 27, 2000: Alexandra Constantinou, 6, of Toronto was a passenger in a car involved in a two-vehicle collision near Parry Sound.

- Dec. 12, 2000: David Peters, 53, and son Jeremiah, 20, both of Orillia, in a southbound car, and Huguette Lacasse, 66, of Alban, a passenger in a northbound mini-van, died in an evening collision near Parry Sound.

- Nov. 20, 2000: Lynda Jackson, 53, of Parry Sound, is killed in a multi-vehicle collision in the Township of Georgian Bay about 1 p.m.

- Oct. 7, 2000: Chadwick Smith, 26, of Kirkland Lake and Reece Gervais, 22 of Espanola were in a car involved in an afternoon accident that featured a head-on collision between two transport trucks.

- Aug. 12, 2000: Betty Gollwitzer, 67, of Smithville died when her southbound vehicle collided with a northbound vehicle about 10 km south of Highway 169.

- Aug. 6, 2000: Wanda Ross, 47, and daughter Rhonda Ross, 21, both of Echo Bay, were killed when their southbound Mercedes collided head-on with a northbound Chevrolet Cavalier about 3 p.m. near the Pickerel River Road, just south of Still River.

- June 19, 2000: Cory Fisher, 20, of Seguin Township near Parry Sound, was a passenger in a vehicle that left the highway about 6:30 a.m.

- June 17, 2000: Dave Sisson, 54, and Robert Sisson, both of Ohio, who were passengers in an extended cab truck being driven by Matt Sisson, 21, also of Ohio, died when their vehicle struck a rock cut.

- May 25, 2000: Mark Joseph Clark, 39, of Mississauga was killed about 10 p.m. between Britt and Still River after he got out of his vehicle and attempted to cross the highway on foot.

- Feb. 15, 2000: Rissah Mundy of Carling Township, near Parry Sound, died after her car plunged down a 40-foot embankment.

- Oct. 26, 1999: Novella Querci, 70, of Elliot Lake was a passenger in a southbound car driven by her husband about 8:25 p.m. near Pointe au Baril.

- Sept. 9, 1999: Royal Pelletier, 58, and passenger Robert Seawright, 62, both of Sudbury, are killed in a collision with a car about 2 a.m.

- Aug. 31, 1999: Leonard WIllard, 23, of Noelville, was killed in a collision between his car and a tractor-trailer just before 1 p.m. about 50 km southeast of Sudbury.

- July 28, 1999: Sudbury Regional Police Sgt. Rick McDonald, 38, was laying down a spike belt on the highway near the Highway 17 bypass in the city about 4 a.m. to stop a stolen van.

- May 20, 1999: Jason Bradley Simoneau, 20, of St. Thomas was southbound near Burwash about 1:40 a.m. when his Ford Escort crossed the centre lane and into the path of a northbound tractor-trailer.

- March 8, 1999: A 22-year-old man was killed on Highway 69 near Mactier when his car collided with a tractor-trailer. Keith Milne of Footes Bay, Ont., was dead at the scene.