The wife of a man struck and killed while cycling along Highway 7 hopes a prison sentence handed down to the driver in the case will send a message about the dangers of distracted driving.
The wife of a man struck and killed while cycling along Highway 7 hopes a prison sentence handed down to the driver in the case will send a message about the dangers of distracted driving.
Joely Lambourn, 43, struck and killed Deric Kryvenchuk, a 41-year-old Foothills-area father of two while he cycled along Highway 7 on May 4, 2015.
Lambourn was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail and will have her driver's licence suspended for five years when she is released from prison.
Justice Earl Wilson said Lambourn wasn't impaired, speeding tired, or talking and texting when the collision occurred.
“The only conceivable explanation… is because she must have been distracted by something,” he said. “It was most probably her messing around with her phone – looking at apps or pressing buttons.”
Lambourn had taken a phone call prior to the collision and admitted answering and hanging up the phone may have caused her to swerve out of her lane as she drove west from High River to Okotoks.
Wilson condemned Lambourn's driving while handing down his sentence.
“Everyone's lives were put at risk,” he said. “People who drive distracted are a menace to the entire public.”
Deric's wife Amanda Kryvenchuk said she is glad Lambourn is being held accountable for her lack of attention behind the wheel.
She hopes the prospect of a prison term for distracted driving will change people's behaviour behind the wheel.
“We just need to pay attention,” said Amanda.
The sentence doesn't change the pain and loss of losing Deric, she said.
“He is misses out on the hopes and dreams for our lives that we had,” said Amanda. “He misses out on seeing his kids growing up.”
Crown prosecutor Vince Pingatore asked for a three to three-and-a-half year jail term and a seven-year driving prohibition.
“Distracted driving is becoming the new drunk driving,” Pingatore said, adding parliament has indicated a desire to stiffen penalties for the offence of distracted driving and a number of provinces have increased fines and penalties.
Defence lawyer, Mitch Stephensen said since the crash, his client has had her marriage break down and she has trouble eating and sleeping as a result of nightmares.
Lambourn was driving with a suspended licence due to unpaid speeding tickets in Saskatchewan. She wracked up five speeding tickets in 2013 and one ticket for careless driving.
The only reason her licence was suspended was due to her inability to pay her tickets, Stephensen said.
“If it wasn't for her financial circumstances, she could have been legally driving,” he said. Lambourn has been driving for 25 years and has never caused an accident before, he said.
At trial Lambourn testified she never saw Kryvenchuk, although three other motorists testified they saw him cycling on the shoulder of the road prior to the collision. The witnesses also said they saw Lambourn veer into the oncoming lane of traffic and into the shoulder of the road several times after the Aldersyde turnoff, before she the back of Kryvenchuk's bike, sending him flying into the air and into the ditch.
People pulled over and gave Kryvenchuk CPR at the side of the road, but he was declared dead at the scene.
Lambourn put her head in her hands and cried when the verdict was read, as did her family and friends in the courtroom.
“I would say how sorry I am everyday for the rest of my life, but it would never be enough,” she said.
