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The Ontario Court of Appeal has increased the sentences of the two young men convicted of dangerous driving in a crash that caused the death of 46-year-old taxi driver Tahir Khan in 2006.

Alexander Ryanazov and Wang-Piao Dumani Ross were speeding north along Mount Pleasant Road in January, 2006 when Ryanazov t-boned Khan, a Scarborough resident, as the cab driver was making a left turn onto Whitehall Road. Eyewitnesses estimated that the pair were travelling in excess of 80 km/h, and possibly as fast as 140 km/h along the road, and evidence showed that Ryanazov was travelling roughly 120 km/h in a 60 km/h zone when his vehicle collided with Khan's taxi.

Ryanazov and Dumani Ross pled guilty to dangerous driving causing death in March of last year and were sentenced to a four year driving ban, plus one year of house arrest followed by an additional year during which they had to obey an 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

On Thursday, the Ontario Court of Appeal bumped the ban of driving to seven years and said Ryanazov and Dumani Ross must serve the remainder of their sentences under house arrest instead of with a curfew.

The Court declined the Crown's appeal for jail time for the 20-year-old men.

The increased sentence came almost exactly one year after the Ontario government enacted a street racing law that can result in drivers losing their licenses, having their cars impounded and facing fines of up to $10,000 if they exceed the speed limit by more than 50 km/h.

The number of speed-related deaths in the province dropped nearly in half from pre-street racing legislation numbers, though exactly how much of that was due to the law is not known.

Ryanazov and Dumani Ross still face a $2 million civil suit from Khan's family.