The truck driver who hit a 13-year-old near her St. Agatha home in 2012 was sentenced Wednesday.

Jason Arndt will have to pay a $2,000 fine and live without his driver’s licence for six months after pleading guilty to careless driving.

The $2,000 fine is the maximum penalty that can be leveled under the Highway Traffic Act.

On May 17, 2012, Arndt was behind the wheel of a waste disposal truck on Erbs Road, west of Waterloo, when he struck Lydia Herrle, who was getting off a school bus and continued on to rear-end the bus.

Arndt, 38, told the court he was reaching for a cigarette and lighter at the time of the incident, looked up and saw the school bus, but was unable to stop in time.

Herrle, who was thrown 30 feet, suffered multiple fractures and a brain injury, and remains in rehabilitative therapy.

She now functions at a Grade 4 level. In a victim impact statement, her mother wrote that Lydia has lost her independence and her ability to play sports and musical instruments.

Despite that, the Herrles say they don’t harbour any bad feelings toward Arndt.

“The family reached out to him in a very heartfelt way, and he responded to express his remorse to them,” defence lawyer Bernard Cummings tells CTV.

“He told them how he’s haunted by how he’s robbed the family of their child and those memories.”

Herrle’s grandmother was among those in court Wednesday.