The driver of a car that struck and killed a young cyclist on the southbound Jeanne d'Arc Blvd. on-ramp to Hwy. 174 last July has been charged with dangerous driving causing death and careless driving causing death.

Robert Ryan, 79, is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 21. It is unclear why it took six months for the Ottawa Police Service to lay the charges, which are normally routine in such incidents.

In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen shortly after the accident happened, Ryan told the paper that the victim, Simon Peter Khouri, 13, suddenly tried to cross the on-ramp in front of him with two other friends. All three were on their bicycles.

He narrowly missed the first two boys but struck Khouri with enough force to cause multiple system failures to his body and send him into cardiac arrest. First responders who arrived on the scene were unable to revive the teenager and he was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Ryan maintains there was nothing he could have done to avoid the collision. The Crown Attorney will likely argue that the boys had the right-of-way at the crossing and that Ryan should have stopped his vehicle to allow them to cross.

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