The Crown is seeking a 10-year jail sentence for the driver of a semi-truck who collided with the Humboldt Broncos team bus last April.
On Tuesday morning, Crown prosecutor Thomas Healey asked the judge to consider 10 years per count, to be served concurrently, and a 10-year driving prohibition.
Sentencing submissions for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu began Thursday in a makeshift Melfort, Sask., courtroom, after three days of families and friends of the bus crash victims reading out victim impact statements. The Calgary man has pleaded guilty to 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection to the collision that happened near Tisdale on April 6, 2018.
In an agreed statement of facts presented in court Monday, Sidhu was found solely responsible for the crash that killed 16 people and injured 13 others.
A forensic collision report found Sidhu’s semi-trailer didn’t brake at the intersection of Highway 335 and 35 before the crash, despite numerous signs with flashing lights to warn drivers. The report also said Sidhu’s view of the intersection was not impeded by any environmental factors like trees near the road or sun in his eyes.
Court documents also show Sidhu had violated 70 provincial and federal trucking regulations in the 11 days leading up to the fatal crash.
Healey called the case “horrific” and said there was no other case in Canada that was comparable.
“This was not just an accident. It was a crime. A very serious crime,” he said.
Healey said the case has aggravating factors, including the massive injuries and loss of life, with survivors having their lives changed forever. The heartache and pain the crash caused, he said, was impossible to comprehend.
“I am not aware of another accident that has impacted such a vast number of people across not just this province but this country.”
Healey said as a licensed professional driver, Sidhu “utterly and completely failed in this case.”
Sidhu was driving a vehicle with a heavier load, which required more care and attention than would normally be required, Healey told the court.
The prosecutor said the driver failed to notice four signs leading up to a well-marked intersection during the day, along with an oversized stop sign, which was emphasized by a flashing red light.
The semi was travelling between 86 km per hour and 96 km per hour when he entered the intersection.
“This wasn't a rolling stop. It was more like a rocket,” Healey said.
“There as nowhere for the bus driver to go. The truck was right in the centre. There was no option.”
Healey recognized there were some mitigating factors in the case, with an early guilty plea and the full acceptance of responsibility of Sidhu.
“I have no doubt that Mr. Sidhu is s sincerely remorseful,” Healey said.
The driver also has a clean driving and criminal record and has the continued support of his family and community.
The morning will continue with submissions from defence counsel.
