A little over nine months ago a scary crash happened in Saskatchewan, experts believe it was not an accident. On April 6 last year 16 people were killed and 13 injured, when a westbound semi-trailer truck struck a northbound coach bus near Armley, Saskatchewan, Canada. The semi-trailer had failed to yield at a flashing stop sign at the intersection of Highways 35 and 335.
Jaskirat Singh Sidhu faces 16 charges of dangerous driving causing death and 13 charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash. He was not present in provincial court on November 27.
The driver of the truck involved in the devastating Humboldt Broncos crash, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, has pleaded guilty to all 29 charges against him. Ryan Kessler reports.
“I plead guilty, your honor,” Jaskirat Singh Sidhu told a judge in a Melfort, Saskatchewan courtroom Tuesday morning, January 8th.
Adam Herold, who was 16, was the youngest person killed in the crash. Adam’s father, Russ Herold, was among the first people calling for action. The RCMP investigated the cause of the crash and made safety recommendations when the work was completed.
It was a big scale tragedy, many government agencies were involved in the investigation, and they were working on few key points. First, to understand what happened that led to this crash, why that happened and second, who is responsible and how to fix the issue to prevent such incidents in the future.
The truck driver charged in connection to the Humboldt Broncos fatal bus crash, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, made his first court appearance on July 10th, attended by some families of the hockey team, and was released on a $1,000 bail.
Sidhu’s lawyer appeared by telephone and asked for more time to review disclosure received from the Crown in the last few days. The Crown said the details come from a government report.
The province of Saskatchewan is making driver training for new commercial truckers and bus drivers mandatory. That incident prompted jurisdictions across Canada to take a closer look at their safety practices. Alberta Transportation was already in the process of considering several improvements to traffic safety in our province. The province authorities said that such training will be implemented as mandatory starting March 1st of 2019. The province will eliminate a temporary safety fitness certificate and require all new commercial carriers to prove compliance with transportation safety regulations before they start operating. They will also be required to renew it every three years.
Such tragedy can never go away with time or be forgotten, the families of those who are not with us anymore will never forget and will never get over their loss, the hope is that with the hearing over and with the help of time, they might find some kind of closer and peace, and keep the memory of their loved ones, who left this world early. Sincere condolences to those who suffered such great loss.