January 10, 2012 (Ottawa, ON) – An Ottawa driver, Sommit Luangpakham, was sentenced yesterday to two years less a day in jail for hitting five cyclists in July 2009, reports CBC. Luangpakham, 47, was found guilty on all 10 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and leaving the scene of an accident in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata.

Justice Monique Mativier sentenced Luangpakham, to nine months for dangerous driving together with 15 months for leaving the scene of the crash, which will be served consecutively. Mativier said there was no evidence of recklessness in his driving, but she cited a lack of human decency in not staying at the scene of the accident. Luangpakham, who testified that he fell asleep at the wheel and thought he had hit a post, made a formal apology to his victims in court.

Cyclists Cathy Anderson, Robert Harland, Hilary McNamee, Robert Wein, and Mark White were injured in the crash while riding in single file on a bike path on March Road. They suffered injuries ranging from cuts and broken bones to severe brain trauma.

Yesterday, Cathy Anderson described the decision was “fair.” Speaking to reporters outside the Ottawa court, she said she did not want another person’s life destroyed because of the crash. Anderson and her partner Robert Wein Both continue to live with the injuries they suffered in the incident.

Hans Moore, president of Ottawa advocacy group Citizens for Safe Cycling, said that the case put a spotlight on the the relationship between cyclists and drivers in Ottawa.

The horrific crash drew widespread attention in 2009, even from the other side of the Atlantic. “I hope everyone there is doing well and we’re all thinking about you. Be safe on the roads. Any time you have the interaction between bikes and cars, you never know what can happen,” Lance Armstrong (then with Astana) said in the video posted on Livestrong.com before Stage 16 in the TdF.

Read more HERE.