A Saskatoon man, shaking and bruised after being hit by a drunk driver last week, is sharing his frustration.
John Lozowchuk was driving on the Traffic Bridge in the middle of the afternoon when another vehicle slammed into his car head-on, trapping him and the passenger inside the car.
“I love this new bridge and bamo, that’s all I remember,” he said.
The driver of the vehicle, 26-year-old Nicholas Glum, pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.
While Glum will spend time behind bars, it’s the length of his sentence and knowing that it wasn’t a first time offence that isn’t sitting well.
“The deal’s done. The guy got nine months in jail, only,” Lozowchuk said.
Besides time in jail, Glum will be on probation for three years and is banned from driving for three years.
According to Franklin Impey, the Crown Prosecutor involved in the case, Glum was also charged with impaired driving in 2014.
He faced a minimum fine of $1,000 and a minimum driving ban of one year.
One criminal defence lawyer said there are multiple factors a judge considers when sentencing.
While the legal blood alcohol limit is important, so is the severity of the crash.
“The most important factor right off the bat is how bad are the injuries,” Mark Brayford said.
He said a typical jail sentence is six months for a first offender.
“The second most important factor is probably your criminal record for related types of offences,” he said.
While the sentence varies depending on the case and judge, for Lozochuk, it’s watching impaired drivers walk away unharmed that stings the most.
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the date of Glum’s previous impaired driving charge.
