Owner of trucking company involved in Broncos crash pleads guilty to safety charges

Sukhmander Singh, the owner of the transport truck involved in the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash has admitted he did not follow provincial and federal safety rules. On Wednesday his lawyer pleaded guilty on his client’s behalf in a Calgary court.

Singh, 37, was fined a total of $5,000. His trucking company, Adesh Deol Trucking is no longer in operation.

The convictions include failing to keep a daily drivers log, neglecting to ensure his drivers complied with safety regulations, and having more than one daily logbook. He also pleaded guilty to not having or following a written safety program. Court documents showed the offences occurred between Jan. 1 and March 31,  prior to the fatal crash on April 6.

Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured in rural Saskatchewan when the Broncos junior hockey team bus and a semi collided at an intersection. The driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, was sentenced on Friday to 8 years in prison.

Court heard that Sidhu was going between 86 and 96 kilometres an hour when he passed four signs warning him about the upcoming intersection before he came up to an oversized stop sign with a flashing light.