Two Teens Avoid Jail In Crash That Killed Local Cabbie

They killed a Toronto taxi driver as they sped up Mt. Pleasant and St. Clair on January 24, 2006. But they won’t be going to jail. The two teens behind one of the worst apparent  street racing incidents of the past two years walked out of court on Tuesday, lucky to escape more serious punishment.

Both Wang-Piao Dumani Ross and Alexander Ryazanov will get a two year conditional sentence plus two years probation for their acts that night. The sentence includes two years of house arrest and 150 hours of community service. Neither will be able to get behind the wheel for four years.

The 20-year-olds were driving their families’ expensive Mercedes Benz sports cars at a high rate of speed just as Tahir Khan was attempting to make a left turn. One of the vehicles T-boned the taxi driver’s cab, leaving him dead at the scene. After waiting in legal limbo for more than a year, both pled guilty to dangerous driving causing death earlier this month. They could have faced three years in jail for causing the horrific accident. 

The judge blamed the incident on excessive speed and poor judgment, but took no account of the fact the two appeared to be racing each other. Their lawyers had always denied they were competing in a race and believe the punishment fits the crime. “It sends the absolute right message that we won’t punish young men with no records who weren’t drinking,” maintains Todd White. “The law in this country says drinking and driving is the most dangerous driving you can do. But when two men are speeding, no hint of alcohol or drugs, their ability to operate their motor vehicles was not impaired … to send two young 18-year-olds to the penitentiary in circumstances such as this, I think would be an outrage.”

He’s adamant that not bringing street racing into the equation was the right thing to do. “The agreed statement of facts was clear. This was not a racing case. A racing case is when two drivers make a decision … to compete, to race, to get to some location fast.”

Khan’s relatives and colleagues were devastated by the loss. The 46-year-old was just days away from becoming a Canadian citizen when the accident took his life. He’d come to this country with the goal of saving money and bringing his family – his wife, his brother and mother – here from Pakistan.

Those who wanted that dream to come true are bitter that the convicted duo won’t be going to jail. “It’s extremely disappointing,” admits Mohammad Alam. “After committing such a terrible offence, they get away with nothing.” Diamond Taxi’s Jim Bell, for whom Khan worked, is also convinced something isn’t right. “One hundred and forty kilometres is not speeding with another car beside it, that’s racing,” he assures.  

Alam had to call the family overseas with the terrible news the last time. Telling them about the outcome of the trial fills him with a new kind of dread. “There’s nothing we can do to bring Tahir Khan back,” he laments. “It will be really disappointing.”

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