The Humboldt Broncos team bus slammed into a semi-truck hauling peat moss at a rural intersection in eastern Saskatchewan on April 6, 2018, after the semi driver ran a stop sign.
The admission was part of an agreed statement of facts entered in court Monday as the sentencing hearing for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu got underway.
A forensic report stated the Broncos team bus was heading northbound on Highway 35 at between 96 and 107 km/h when it hit the westbound semi on Highway 335, which was travelling between 86 and 96 km/h.
Fourteen people were killed in the collision and two later died in hospital. Thirteen others were injured, and one person – Morgan Gobeil – remains in the rehabilitation unit of Saskatoon City Hospital.
WATCH BELOW: Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, truck driver in Humboldt Broncos crash, arrives for first day of sentencing hearing
The report stated there was no way for the bus driver to avoid the collision, and at no time did Sidhu apply his brakes when he ran the stop sign, which was over-sized and four feet in diameter.
Environmental conditions were not a factor in the crash, the report found: the intersection was clearly visible to Sidhu, the sun didn’t interfere with him, and the tree line was inconsequential.
WATCH BELOW: Coverage of Jaskirat Singh Sidhu’s court appearance in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash
Sidhu, 30, pleaded guilty to 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm early in January.
He faces a maximum sentence of 14 years for each count of dangerous driving causing death and 10 years for dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Seventy-five impact statements have been submitting to court in Melfort; 65 will be read by the victims and their families.
Five days have been set aside for the hearing, which is taking place at the Kerry Vickar Centre to accommodate families, survivors, and media.
Bernadine Boulet, the mother of Logan Boulet, was the first person to read their impact statement.
She said she is extremely heartbroken and the crash has cheated the family of so many memories still to be made.
“I struggle with knowing our lives and stories will continue, but Logan’s will not,” Boulet said.
“We now all have a hole where he should be. I want to have Logan back, but that will never happen.”
Boulet said her son will be remembered as an inspiration for others.
“He will be known as an organ donor who inspired thousands and thousands and thousands of others to give.”
Before the hearing started, Tricia Wack, the mother of Stephen Wack, exchanged a few soft words with Sidhu.
Wack wrote an emotional op-ed in September 2018, forgiving Sidhu.
“I can say with conviction that my son Stephen would forgive you,” Wack wrote.
Heather Yourex-West and Ryan Kessler contributed to this story
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