New York: A Canadian motorist who killed a 17-year-old cyclist in a late-night collision is suing his family for emotional distress, claiming he was to blame for the accident because he failed to wear a high-visibility vest.

In the lawsuit, Sharlene Simon says her "enjoyment of life has been irretrievably lessened" since the accident in which Brandon Majewski was killed and his friend Richard McLean, 16, seriously injured in October 2012.

She is now suing both teenagers, along with Jake Roberts, 16, who was also knocked off his bike in the collision near the town of Innisfil, Ontario, but was unhurt, for more than 1 million Canadian dollars ($976,000).

Derek Majewski, the dead boy's father, said: "It makes my blood boil. This has ripped our family apart.

"This thing haunts us. It will never stop haunting us," he said. "And now this woman has the gall to try to profit from our dead child she killed? Profit from another boy who was almost crippled?"