A man faces a $1,000 fine for his involvement in a 2015 head-on crash that claimed the lives of two local seniors.
In a special sitting of Westlock Provincial Court on Thursday, March 10, William Thomas Zinyk, 49, pleaded guilty to failing to observe the rules of the road under the Traffic Safety Act.
Judge F.A. Day fined him $1,000, but did not impose a driving suspension. Originally charged with driving on the left of the centre line, Zinyk pleaded guilty to the amended charge as part of a joint submission from Crown prosecutor Jeff Martin and defence counsel Patrick Bigg.
Judge Day accepted the submission, calling it appropriate given Zinyk's remorse and otherwise clean driving record.
"The penalty can never, in reality, equate with the loss,” Day said. "To say it's a tragedy, it is, but the word tragedy is almost an inadequate expression.”
On behalf of his client, Bigg read a letter of apology from Zinyk, who was too emotional to read it himself.
"If I could go back and change my routine that day, I would,” the letter states.
"Please accept my condolences for your loss in this tragedy.”
Members of the victims' families were in attendance, but didn't address court.
Martin told court that on April 27, 2015 at around 4:30 p.m. Westlock RCMP responded to a head-on collision between two vehicles on Highway 2, six kilometres south of the Hamlet of Vimy.
At the time of the accident, Zinyk's Chevrolet Silverado was in the wrong lane when it collided with an oncoming Chevrolet Avalanche occupied by Leo Tymko, 82, and Helen Tymko, 77, who both died as a result of the crash.
Zinyk was airlifted to hospital by STARS Air Ambulance and was in a coma for five days. His injuries required "intensive” rehab, which he continues nearly a year after the accident.
Bigg said Zinyk has limited recollection of the accident, but recalls he was passing a transport truck and didn't see the oncoming vehicle until it was too late.
