An inquest opened Monday in Burnaby into the deaths of three farmworkers who were killed when their overloaded van flipped over on the Trans-Canada Highway near Abbotsford in 2007.
The van had only two seatbelts, but was carrying 16 people, and some of the vehicle's seats had been replaced by wooden benches.
Harwinder Gill, the van's driver, testified that she believed the van was safe to drive because her mechanic told her so.
But she admitted that she did not have the proper training or license to operate such a vehicle.
She also claimed she checked the vehicle's tire pressure that day with a gauge -- contradicting what she said in a police statement three months after the accident.
Gill pleaded guilty last year to driving without due consideration and driving without a proper license, and was fined $2,000 and banned from driving for a year.
Her testimony Monday provoked disbelief from Jagjit Sidhu, whose 31-year-old wife Sarbjit Kaur Sidhu, was among those killed.
"It's a very hard situation, especially for me," he said.
Amarjit Kaur Bal, 52, and Sukhwinder Kaur Punia, 46, were also killed when the passenger van crashed into a concrete barrier and flipped on its roof on Highway 1.
Though the inquest can not determine legal responsibility, it can put forward recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances in the future.
Presiding coroner Marj Paonessa and a jury will hear testimony from 17 subpoenaed witnesses, including family members of the victims.
The coroner's inquest is expected to be complete on Dec. 18.
Adverse road conditions
A 2008 WorkSafe BC report on the crash found that the van's lack of seatbelts, poor road conditions and lack of driver training were at fault in the crash.
"The driver ... lacked adequate knowledge and training to safely operate a 15-passenger commercial vehicle in adverse conditions," the report stated.
The entire report can be accessed at the Worksafe BC website here.
With files from CTV British Columbia's Jina You and The Canadian Press
