Robert Major testified Monday that he was looking for a stop sign as he approached Highway 16 on a grid road near Langham on Feb. 22, 2016.

When he didn’t see one, it was too late, he told a courtroom as he took the stand at his own trial. He faces 12 charges of negligence and dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm after his truck, carrying six passengers, T-boned a semi-trailer.

Three of the six passengers died at the scene including two of Major’s sons – Brendan and Theodore, ages four and nine. Major’s 26-year-old girlfriend also died.

Major testified he wasn’t too familiar with the route he was taking to get to Highway 16. He was taking it to show his girlfriend the easiest way to get to the highway from his house; he had driven that way about 10 times since he moved into the area in August 2014, he told court.

Visibly emotional and breaking down in tears whenever he spoke about Brendan and Theodore, Major testified he thought he was driving about 100 kilometres per hour - but he wasn’t sure because he didn’t look down at his speedometer.

Earlier in the trial an RCMP crash analyst called by the Crown testified that data collected from Major’s truck showed it was travelling at 137 kilometres per hour and slowed down to118 kilometres per hour one second before the crash.

The crash analyst determined the cause of the crash was Major’s excessive speed and the fact that he did not have enough time to react to oncoming traffic and avoid a collision.

The court also heard from one of the four survivors - Major’s nephew, who was 11-years-old at the time. Now 14, he told court he thought they were driving quite fast, and for a moment he caught a bright light in the front seat. When he peeked over he saw Major holding a cellphone in his right hand.

The defence pointed to his statement to police two weeks after the crash in which he said they were driving a little fast, and when asked if Major was at all distracted, said “no.”

Under cross examination Crown presecutor Michael Pilon argued Major knew the route better than he thought as he was showing his girlfriend the best way to get to the highway.

Pilon said Major didn’t take proper care making sure everyone was buckled in; no one in the vehicle was wearing a seatbelt. Pilon added there were no car seats for Major’s two children. Pilon argued it was Major’s responsibility to make sure his passengers were safe and he failed to do so.

The defence will continue its case Tuesday.