Ottawa driver found guilty in dangerous crash
An Ottawa jury found Sommit Luangpakham guilty on five counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and leaving the scene of an accident, after he hit five cyclists in 2009.
It was a summer day in 2009 that forever changed the landscape of the Ottawa cycling community. Five cyclists were hit by a driver on March Road in the suburb of Kanata on July 19, 2009.
On Thursday, a jury found Sommit Luangpakham guilty on five counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and leaving the scene of an accident. Luangpakham said he fell asleep at the wheel and only awoke when the wind hit his face through the smashed windshield. He thought he had just struck a lamp post, not five cyclists, and kept driving away.
Luangpakham has been forced to surrender his passport, but he has been granted bail until his sentencing hearing on Jan. 6, 2012. He also won’t be allowed to drive a car.
All five of the cyclists were hurt, and four of them seriously injured. They were riding in single file in the bike lane when Luangpakham’s van swerved and hit them.
