Canadian hockey team in fatal crash

[viii]

Thanks all. It's been a tough week in the community. 

[viii]

Sorry to bring up this thread, but the situation has been on my mind so much this past week.

The families have all given victim statements and the driver pled guilty, which was such a relief. Grateful the families don’t have to suffer through court. He will be sentenced in March, with the Crown seeking 10 years.

10 years for 16 lives doesn’t seem fair on one hand - not even a year per life. But he did not set out that morning intending on destroying families. It was an accident, a preventable accident, but I don’t think he should spend the rest of his life in prison - every day must feel like prison with that load of guilt he carries. 

I don’t know what an acceptable sentence would be. All I know is that we miss these boys and Dana, and 11 months to the day later, my heart still hurts.  

[treehugger]

@viii (as a fellow Canadian, who has the prairie provinces close to my heart), I don't know if there is an acceptable sentence in this situation.  It's not like a premeditated murder trial where I want them to lock the basted up for the rest of his life.  It is just a fucking awful accident, where there is no good answer. 16 lives snuffed out, but the drivers life is also ruined.  I think ten years is absolutely just. It doesn't feel long enough for the horror that happened, and yet, I strangely feel like longer would just become, not quite revenge-like, but yeah... I don't know that a longer sentence would serve a purpose except maybe to make part of the general public happy.  It's not like the driver was a career criminal or a horrible human.  He made a grave mistake, that ended up being an absolute tragedy.  And it is all just really, really sad. 

[Don'tlikekoolaid]

I think that driver is going to punish himself for the rest of his life.  This tragedy is just so awful, for everyone, it makes my heart hurt, it really does.  I’m so glad I’m not that Judge who will be one more victim.  

[Jigsaw3]

I agree, the driver seems to realize the consequences of his actions. He was also an immigrant and will probably be deported from Canada at the conclusion of his prison sentence.

If there is any silver lining in this desperately sad situation, it is that there seems to be a general agreement that more driver training is required for the long-haul trucker types. I hope this moves past agreement into implementation SOON so that any similar tragedies are avoided.

The person I want to see sentenced is the owner of the shipping firm -- he was the person who sent an inexperienced driver out on the roads. To me, it is a clear example of what happens when profit is placed above safety.

 

[Don'tlikekoolaid]

Back in the eighties Alberta class one drivers were not well thought of due to the lack of training required to obtain a license.  BC had the most stringent requirements and even that was not enough in my opinion.  I think there should be a short apprenticeship to get that license.  I don’t know what Alberta’/Sask requirements are now but obs not yet good enough.

[TeaGrannie]

I feel like there should be a graduated program similar to regular licensing. As you gain experience you can progress to more things to drive.