The driver in a fatal crash that claimed the lives of a pregnant woman and her father has been fined $2,000 and given a lifetime driving prohibition.
Shaun James Cochrane was behind the wheel of a Ford pickup truck that sped through a red light and struck a Honda Prelude in Abbotsford, B.C. on March 13, 2010.
The Prelude was sent careening towards Kevin Wilson, his seven-months pregnant wife Laurel and her 66-year-old father Albert Jewell as they stood at a pedestrian island. Only Wilson survived.
Abbotsford police recommended a charge of dangerous driving causing death, but were told there wasn't enough evidence for criminal charges.
Instead, one year after the collision Cochrane was charged with driving without due care and attention under the Motor Vehicle Act. The offence carries a maximum fine of $2,000 and maximum six-month prison sentence.
Kevin Wilson spoke to CTV News outside Abbotsford provincial court Monday after Cochrane's sentencing, saying the light sentence sends the wrong message.
"I think they need to come out and give a firm stance on people who drive dangerously to get them off the road, and something's got to change," he said.
Wilson, his wife and father-in-law were waiting to cross the road at Ware Street and South Fraser Way when the Prelude flew towards them, trapping Laurel underneath and pinning Albert to a power pole.
Laurel died hours later in hospital. Doctors were unable to save her child. Her father survived for six months before dying in September from internal injuries suffered in the crash.
With files from CTV British Columbia's Julia Foy
