Semi driver who ran red sentenced to 20 months in Saskatoon crash that killed 2

A semi-truck driver who ran a red light in Saskatoon and crashed into another vehicle, killing two people, has been given a 20-month conditional sentence by a provincial court judge.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Amritpal Singh Virk, 29, was driving on 22nd Street eastbound toward Diefenbaker Drive on Oct. 7, 2022, when he drove through a red light and into the driver's side door of an SUV.

The two occupants of the SUV, a 59-year-old man and 60-year-old woman, both died as a result of their injuries.

On Thursday, provincial court judge Lua Gibb sentenced Virk to 20 months for each death, to be served at the same time. He will be under what is commonly referred to as house arrest, with rare exceptions to leave. After that, he is expected to be on probation for two years.

"This isn't something that we consider as somehow a victory or something like that. There's no victory in a case like this," said Virk's defence counsel, Brian Pfefferle.

"It's just such a tragedy."

In September 2024, Virk pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing death. The maximum penalty for the offence is life imprisonment.

According to court documents submitted on behalf of Virk, he had a clean driving abstract before the crash. He had no previous criminal record and currently lives in Regina, the documents said.

Virk, a permanent resident of Canada, had been driving commercial vehicles for about five years and was not impaired at the time of the collision, the agreed statement of facts states.

Pfefferle said these types of offences do not often lead to community-based sentences, but the sentence handed to Virk allows him the chance to remain in the country, since a sentence of more than six months in a prison could mean he would have to return to India.

There's still no guarantee that he'll be able to remain in Canada, Pfefferle said. He anticipates Virk will be served a removal order, but the sentence provides a chance to appeal that.

"Mr. Virk, obviously, was seeking the opportunity to stay in the country, but I wouldn't say he feels a sense of relief. I wouldn't say he feels a sense of anything other than just intense sadness, grief and remorse for this," Pfefferle said.

Among his conditions, Virk is barred from driving for five years.

The collision

The agreed statement of facts details the 2022 crash.

Virk was driving a "super-B" — meaning a truck pulling two trailers — when he struck the SUV at about 10:44 p.m. The total weight of the semi-truck and trailers was not supposed to exceed 63,500 kilograms, but at the time of the collision it was nearly 65,600 kilograms.

At the scene, Virk admitted fault to police. He had said he saw the light turn yellow, then red, but did not think he had enough time to stop.

A forensic collision reconstructionist's report said that about 6.8 seconds passed between the light turning red and the collision. 

Despite some issues with the semi's brake system, it could have stopped before reaching the intersection, according to the agreed statement of facts. The semi was driving at about 67 km/h when it hit the SUV.

Virk had a history of driving an overweight semi. In September 2022, 14 of his 19 weight slips indicated he drove over the maximum allowed weight of the semi. 

In the two weeks leading up to the crash, he also had 14 violations that included entering inaccurate information, failing to take 10 hours off duty in a day and driving after 14 hours of on-duty time.