MELFORT, Sask. - A truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos crash has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Jaskirat Singh Sidhu of Calgary had pleaded guilty earlier this year to 29 counts of dangerous driving. He stood quietly and looked ahead at the judge as he was sentenced Friday.
"This was not a momentary loss of attention. He had ample time to stop his unit. Mr. Sidhu wasn't speeding but his speed was excessive."
A sentencing hearing in January heard that Sidhu was going between 86 and 96 km/h when he passed four signs warning him about the upcoming intersection before he came up to an oversized stop sign with a flashing light.
Crown prosecutor Thomas Healey said Sidhu should have seen the busy highway in front of him or a car that was stopped across the road and waiting for the Broncos bus to pass.
Sidhu barrelled through a stop sign and into the path of the junior hockey team's bus at a rural Saskatchewan intersection last April.
Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured.
Cardinal said the collision was avoidable.
"Mr. Sidhu had ample time to react ... had he been paying attention," she said.
He described the truck as a rocket that barrelled into the intersection, which gave the bus driver no time to avoid the crash.