Driver awaits to hear his sentence regarding crash on Skyway

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He crippled traffic when his lifted dump truck slammed into the top of the Burlington Skyway two years ago. The crash shut down a key QEW route for days and even worse, it happened right around the long weekend. Sukhwinder Singh Rai is still waiting to hear his fate; sentencing for his dangerous driving conviction has been put over until July.

The crown, Todd Norman, made the case today that Sukhvinder Singh Rai should get a year in jail and should be banned from driving for another three years after that. But Rai’s lawyer, David Locke asked for house arrest. He said his client has already had to go two years without driving and has already suffered stiff consequences.

It’s not what Sukhvinder Singh Rai did to cause his dump truck to crash into the Skyway in July of 2014, his lawyer told the court. It’s what he didn’t do, specifically check his mirrors or other safety systems. That’s why Rai was found guilty of dangerous driving, but not guilty of purposefully ramming the bridge

Rai has since gone back to welding and his wife has filed for divorce. His father was with him at court but not in the court room, he didn’t want to hear the evidence. Rai’s lawyer said the truck had no safety alarm like modern dump trucks; if it had this wouldn’t have happened.

Avtar Kingra doesn’t buy it, he was driving a transport truck beside Rai when the Skyway came down. The prosecutor called his survival miraculous. Kingra is still a truck driver, but now he has chronic back pain, recurring nightmares and is afraid to cross the Burlington Skyway.

Rai blew three times the legal limit for alcohol after the crash but he wasn’t tested until hours later so the results were thrown from court, as were two drunk driving charges. He did have open liquor and at least one officer said Rai smelled like alcohol. Rai has a previous conviction for drunk driving and the prosecutor said today, he clearly hasn’t learned his lesson.

Kingra wants Rai to get a jail sentence and he wants $25 000 in restitution for the five months he was out of work. Two other victims say the crash cost them between $500 and $2300, for expenses and missed classes due to the crash they also say they still suffer pain and fear from that day. The judge noted that taxpayers cannot expect restitution for the $1.38 million it cost to fix the bridge. He does want some receipts or other proof of the other victims’ financial claims before he makes a decision, so Rai is back here at court July 18th to be sentenced.