The ACT's former opposition leader said he would be upset until the day he dies over the circumstances of his son's death, after the woman responsible was sentenced to five years in jail.
Angela Smith, 34, caused a crash on a busy Canberra road in January last year, in which Jozef Stefaniak was thrown from the car.
But instead of checking on his welfare, Smith and another passenger, Kane Kell, ran from the scene before police arrived.
Mr Kell was initially charged over the fatal crash, but those charges were later dropped when it was discovered Smith had been driving.
Outside court on Tuesday, after Smith was sentenced for causing the crash, Jozef's father, former ACT opposition leader Bill Stefaniak, said while he and his wife Shirley had received a letter from Smith they were yet to receive an apology.
"The most disturbing thing about this whole case, apart from just losing a son, is the fact that she and her mate Kane Kell bolted from the scene and left my son literally for dead and then tried to blame him," Mr Stefaniak said.
"Stay at the scene, help your mate …cooperate with the authorities, show real remorse.
"The fact that didn't happen is something that annoys me and will stay with me until the day I die."
Inside the ACT Supreme Court, Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson said the fact Smith had run from the scene showed her attitude to the crash.
"Leaving the scene in this way was callous in the circumstances of this case," she said.
She said Smith had ended the life of Mr Stefaniak in his prime.
"The impact on family members is beyond dry legal words," she said.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson also noted Smith's prospects for rehabilitation appeared good, given her engagement in prison programs, but it remained to be seen if that would continue outside jail.
Smith will not be eligible for parole until 2021, and was also banned from driving for seven years.
Mr and Mrs Stefaniak said they accepted the sentence.
"I think that's quite a reasonable sentence in all the circumstances and I'm certainly not going to quibble with that," Mr Stefaniak said.
"I hope she's learnt a lesson.
"I hope that she does come out of jail a better person than when she went in, because if she doesn't, someone else's life may be put at risk just like my son's was."
