In November 2012, a red Dodge Caravan fled the scene after striking and killing cyclist Tom Samson.

On Tuesday, the minivan’s driver Miguel Oliveira, 25, was sentenced to six months of jail time for failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing death.

After credit for the time he spent on bail under house arrest, he will serve a three-month sentence on the weekends. He will also have a two-year driving ban and have to perform 240 hours of community service.

Effectively, his lawyer says, he will spend about 15 weekends in jail.

Samson, a beloved Grade 2 teacher at Swansea Public School with two young children of his own, was 35 when he was killed at the intersection of Lansdowne Ave. and Davenport Rd.

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Friends and family who previously told the court about the devastating impact of Samson’s death filled the courtroom as Superior Court Justice Faye McWatt delivered her decision.

“Based on the damage to Mr. Oliveira’s vehicle, he had to have known he hit the cyclist who eventually died and that, at the least, the cyclist was injured after the collision,” McWatt said. It took 40 hours for Oliveira to turn himself in to police.

But she also noted that, given the charge, she did not consider whether Oliveira caused Samson’s death.

The Crown had asked for a sentence of 12 to 18 months in jail, the defence for a 60-day sentence to be served on weekends.

“The length of the sentence does not impact us. It does not bring back our son,” Samson’s father Uri told reporters after the decision. The family’s goal now will be persuade legislators to impose automatic jail time for drivers who hit-and-run, he said. “We think that such a law would send a strong message to drivers that failing to remain at the scene of a crash and provide potentially life-saving assistance to the victim is a repugnant act.”

As Uri spoke, Samson’s mother Gita stood beside him in tears, holding a photograph of her son.

Since Samson’s death, his family has also raised concerns about how cyclist fatalities are investigated by police. Police initially said Samson had run a red light at the intersection where he was killed. The family hired a criminal lawyer to examine the evidence, and it emerged, as stated in the agreed statement of facts, that Samson was at zero or very slow velocity when he was struck.

Cycling advocate and publisher of the Dandyhorse magazine Tammy Thorne described the entire case, from the police investigation to the multiple delays to the eventual sentence as “egregious.”

“We had an opportunity here to make a strong showing, that we care about road safety and we take safe driving seriously,” she said following the decision. “I don’t see that happening today.”

Uri, an avid cyclist who passed on his love for bikes to his son, no longer cycles on the city roads because of the anxiety it gives his wife.

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He says Toronto needs more bicycle-friendly roads.

“You cannot stop accidents. There are enough stupid drivers and stupid cyclists on both sides. However, I think there should be more civility on the roads, and people should take responsibility if they commit something.”