Driver testifies sun was in her eyes at time of deadly crash

An accused driver told court that blinding sun in her eyes was to blame when she struck and killed a cyclist nearly two years ago.

Joely Lambourn told a Calgary jury on Tuesday that she had no idea what occurred until she stopped her car and raced back to the scene of the carnage she created.

“It was really quite bright and sunny out,” Lambourn said of the afternoon of May 4, 2015, when Okotoks resident Deric Kryvenchuk was killed as he rode his bicycle on the shoulder of Highway 7 at the south end of the town.

“I just remember coming up the hill … and the sun was directly in my eyes,” she told defence lawyer Mitch Stephensen. “I remember seeing cars coming toward me … and then I heard a bang, so I knew I hit something and I just pulled over,” Lambourn said.

“The sun was in my face and the next thing I heard was a bang.”

Lambourn, 43, is charged with dangerous driving in connection with Kryvenchuk’s death. She told Stephensen she never saw the man as he cycled by the side of the highway.

“Did you see the cyclist before you hit him?” the lawyer asked.

“No, I didn’t know what happened,” she replied.

It was only after she got out of her car and ran back to where Kryvenchuk was that she realized the devastation she had caused.

“I could see the body in the ditch, lying there,” she said.

“It was horrifying,” Lambourn said, her voice cracking with emotion. “I felt like the biggest jerk in the world. I would take my life for his.”

Undercross-examination,Crown prosecutor Vince Pingitore suggested the accused was tired and may have been distracted by her cellphone.

Pingitore noted Lambourn had received a call minutes earlier from her friend, Jim Jordan, and had to press the answer button and a second button to talk to him on speakerphone.

Lambourn said it was a brief call that ended five minutes before the collision. “He just called to confirm we were going to meet for coffee in Okotoks,” she said.

Jurors will hear final submissions Wednesday before beginning deliberations on Thursday.