The man charged with crashing his minivan into a group of five cyclists in Kanata two years ago testified Monday that he fell asleep and thought he hit a post.

Sommit Luangpakham told the court he doesn't know exactly what happened on March Road the morning of July 19, 2009

"I didn't know I hit the people or anything like that. In my mind I hit the post," he testified.

Luangpakham pleaded not guilty to five counts of failing to stop at the scene of a collision causing bodily harm and five counts of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm.

All five of the cyclists suffered serious to life threatening injuries.

Luangpakham told the court that he was at the house of an acquaintance the night before and got no sleep. He said he kept driving because he didn't know he had hit people.

He noticed his windshield and mirror were broken but thought he had hit a pole.

Both sides in the trial agree that Luangpakham was behind the wheel of the van, but it's up to the 12-member jury to decide if he's guilty of the charges.