A judge this week denied bail to Antoni Burianski, who is charged with impaired driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death in a fatal crash on the QEW back on Sept. 30.
Mohammad Rao was a minute away from his Mississauga home after delivering a fare from Pearson airport about 1 a.m. that morning when his taxi van was clipped by a BMW that was speeding in and out of traffic on the highway near the Cawthra Rd. exit.
His van flipped, slid into a guardrail and rocketed through a fence, hitting a utility pole before landing on North Service Rd.
The 59-year-old husband, father of three and grandfather of seven, who drove a cab for 31 years, was killed instantly.
Police said alcohol and speed were factors in the deadly crash.
"We (family) all have a life sentence," said Rizwan Rao, the dead man's son. "As long as we live, our father is gone."
The victim's wife, Sarwar Rao, suspected something terrible had happened when her husband failed to return home from his regular shift working for Aeroport Taxi and Limousine Service.
The couple were less than a month from celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.
Rizwan Rao says his father's "senseless" death should force federal leaders to enact harsher penalties for drunk drivers who take a life.
OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford, who investigated the crash, said he could understand Rao's anguish.
"It's tragic," he said. "How a person can get behind the wheel of a car after drinking, then travel at high speeds, cutting in and out of traffic ... there's no excuse for it."
Burianski is back in court Monday.
lrosella@mississauga.net
