Court made right call on Pardi case

Every so often, courts and judges make decisions that on the level of common sense, make little to no sense at all — and then, there are other times where something they've declared makes perfect sense.

This is one of those latter times.

Brandon Pardi, the young man at the wheel when his car ran over and killed three-year-old Bianca Leduc on Oct. 31, 2007, will be tried as an adult on charges of dangerous driving causing death after the Supreme Court of Canada rejected his appeal of a lower-court decision to try him as an adult.

The accident that claimed Bianca Leduc's life took place on Pardi's 18th b irthday. Another man, now 19 and cannot be identified because he was 17 at the time of the incident, will also be tried in the case.

This horrific accident is every parent's nightmare; your pride and joy, your beautiful little girl is putting up Halloween decorations at her day care in advance of an evening of trick-or-treating and the next minute, she's helplessly pinned underneath a car that comes steaming onto the lawn after two cars (going far too fast, apparently) collide on the street.

I have every sympathy for the Pardi family, for whom this has also been a nightmare.

However, I do question some of the circumstances surrounding the incident. One) the Volkswagen Golf Brandon was driving was a birthday present from his father, and two) Pardi was driving the car without having passed his driving test (he had a learner's permit).

Now, knowing young men as I know them (I was one once, I swear. I have the scars to prove it), I know they can occasionally drive like idiots. And if I knew that, Brandon Pardi's parents ought to have known that and one) not let their son drive a car he was not legally allowed to drive by himself, and they certainly shouldn't have given it to him as a birthday present.

Does anybody out there think good things happen when a teenager is gifted a car that they would not have been able to afford on their own? Does anybody out there think this wouldn't set the teen up with a serious sense of entitlement?

This was a bad decision made by a kid who might not have been taught how to make choices in his life, and that lack of education will inevitably cost him at least a few years in jail, and it cost a young family the light of their lives.

There are no winners here, but Brandon Pardi was 18 when he made his fateful decision and Bianca Leduc was three. She had no choice in the matter, and he had every choice in the world. He was an adult in most senses of the word, and now, he's going to have some time to think about those choices.

So maybe, just maybe Brandon Pardi will be rehabilitated after some time in jail, but sadly, Bianca Leduc's family will never be truly whole again.