Photo: Castanet Staff

The man who hit a cyclist on Baron Road in 2016 pleaded guilty Wednesday.

The commercial truck driver who accidentally crushed and killed a bicyclist on Baron Road in April 2016 pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention Wednesday.

Romain Gintrand, a professional commercial truck driver, was travelling south on Baron Road on the afternoon of April 15, 2016.

He was stopped at the traffic light at Banks Road, when, unbeknownst to him, 50-year-old Terry Campbell rode up beside him on his right side, and stopped in his blind spot.

When the light turned green, Gintrand began to make a right turn, and Campbell began riding straight, resulting in a collision.

Campbell was crushed by the large flat deck truck and died from his injuries.

While Gintrand was scheduled to begin his trial Wednesday, he instead pleaded guilty.

Because speed was not a factor in the incident, the Crown was not seeking any jail for Gintrand, but instead proposed a $1,500 fine. Defence countered a $500 fine was more appropriate.

Before sentencing, Campbell's brother told the court he has lost his best friend and now suffers from depression and anxiety as a result of the accident.

“It almost seems unsavoury to talk about this in terms of money ... there's no amount of money that will bring the deceased back,” said Justice Robin Smith.

“I hope everyone appreciates I'm sentencing on a regulatory motor vehicle act ticketing matter. It just doesn't change how unpalatable it is in circumstances where someone has died. It's tragic.”

Smith levied a $1,000 fine against Gintrand, to be paid within six months.

“The moral culpability is low, but the consequences are hugely, disproportionately high,” Justice Smith said.

Since the crash, Gintrand's company has installed new mirrors on all their trucks to reduce their blind spots, and the City of Kelowna has painted the bike lane green where the crash took place.