EDMONTON – The bus driver who was behind the wheel when six-year-old Thomas Wedman was struck and killed in St. Albert was handed a $2,000 fine in court on Monday.
Joseph Allen, 62, was originally charged with careless driving and failing to yield to a pedestrian.
Allen pleaded guilty to the charge of failing to yield to a pedestrian and was fined $2,000, the maximum under the Traffic Safety Act.
The careless driving charge was withdrawn.
On Friday, September 27, 2013, Thomas Wedman was struck while crossing the street on his way to school at the intersection of Sir Winston Churchill Avenue and Woodlands Road in St. Albert.
Wedman was a Grade 2 student at École Marie Poburan.
READ MORE: Child struck and killed by school bus in St. Albert
On Monday night, the Wedman family released a statement in response to the decision.
“Soon after Thomas’ death, we made a conscious decision to not get emotionally invested in the legal proceedings surrounding it. The temptation to allow the findings of the court to take on significance in our grieving was something we intentionally wanted to avoid.
“That being said, we are very much pleased there was a guilty plea entered and a trial avoided.
“Having to relive that terrible day for the court was something we were very much hoping to avoid. Trying to correlate the punishment meted out by the court with the effect the tragedy has had on our lives is a lose-lose situation. Doing so is the proverbial comparing apples with oranges, and we refuse to go down that path.
“In the nearly nine months since his death, we have been trying to adjust to life without Thomas being here with us. Even with the overwhelming support of so many people around us, this is an incredibly difficult task. All our family events, no matter how joyous, are coloured by the realization there is an empty chair and a missing smile. We miss him more than we ever would have thought possible. We can only bear this burden by living our lives one day at a time, relying on our love for each other, and taking comfort in a faith in knowing that one day, we will again be with Thomas.”
Watch above: Charges are officially laid against bus driver Joseph Allen.