TORONTO, Ont. — Commerce student David Lafferty Jr. of Barrie, Ont. is the recipient of the 2010 OTA Professional Driver Memorial Scholarship, an award that was established in memory of the late David Virgoe.

Virgoe died when he steered his truck away from oncoming vehicles after being cut off by street racers on Hwy. 400 in the summer of 2007. Lafferty Jr. is a third-year student at the University of Guelph studying Management Economics in Industry and Finance.

He plans to attend graduate school at either the University of Toronto or Western Ontario to obtain a Masters degree in business upon receiving his Bachelor of Commerce degree.

“This continues to be a great opportunity to pay tribute to the professional drivers who are often the unsung heroes of Ontario’s roadways – those who keep the flow of goods and our economy flowing,” said David Bradley, president of the Ontario Trucking Association, whose Educational Foundation administers the scholarship. “We are extremely pleased to be able to provide some financial assistance to the son of a driver who sustained an on-the-job life-altering injury through no fault of his own.”

David Lafferty Sr. broke a vertebrae in his spine in 1999 in an accident caused by an improperly loaded container that shifted en-route, causing his tractor-trailer to roll and catch fire. The elder Lafferty is now confined to a wheelchair.

The Professional Driver Memorial Scholarship goes to a university or college student who is the son or daughter of a professional truck driver who has been hurt or killed on the job.