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Driver behind fatal 2017 Coquihalla crash that killed UBCO student receives $1,500 fine

Click to play video: 'Driver handed fine in 2017 crash death of Japanese student on Coquihalla'
Driver handed fine in 2017 crash death of Japanese student on Coquihalla
WATCH: A B.C. driver apologized for his actions as he was sentenced to a hefty fine in connection with a crash on the Coquihalla that killed a Japanese student two years ago. Jill Bennett reports – May 1, 2019

A man who crashed into a car on the Coquihalla Highway, causing the death of a 21-year-old university student, has been sentenced.

George Holowko has been given a $1,500 fine after pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention.

In April 2017 he was driving his son and his girlfriend to a hockey game in Kamloops.

WATCH: (Aired. Nov. 20, 2017) Grieving father of UBCO student killed in car crash speaks out against dangerous driving

Click to play video: 'Grieving father of UBCO student killed in car crash speaks out against dangerous driving'
Grieving father of UBCO student killed in car crash speaks out against dangerous driving

Amid wintry conditions, Holowko crashed into a car that had veered off the road onto the median. The driver of that car, Melissa Mimura, a Japanese student at UBC’s Okanagan campus, was standing in front of her vehicle and killed by the impact.

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The judge who sentenced Holowko to the fine called it a case of simple negligence — a mistake that has caused much suffering.

Speaking from Japan, Mimura’s father says the fine isn’t enough and in his country, Holowko would have faced jail time.

“I cannot understand why [the penalty] was so small,” Hideki Mimura said.
“Our laws in Japan and Canada are so different and since [there is] nothing else we can do, we just have to suffer. It’s just an unfortunate fact.”
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