It was a terrible collision: At a speed of 166 km / h, without the slightest steering movement, a 54-year-old driver sped on the B27 on February 7, 2020 into the roundabout just before Kist (district of Wrzburg). Motor vehicle experts later determined that the accelerator pedal had been depressed 100 percent for a longer distance. The vehicle literally flew out of the roundabout and detected a car that had already left the roundabout and was heading towards Kist. The 31-year-old driver had no chance, he died at the scene of the accident.
A jail court in Wrzburg has sentenced the 54-year-old who caused the accident to a prison sentence of two years and six months for premeditated endangerment of traffic and negligence and revoked his driving license for a further four years. The driver has no memory of the accident or the minutes before, he was unable to drive because of an epilepsy-like seizure with loss of consciousness, and not for the first time. He suffers from “Recklinghausen’s disease”, a genetic disease of the skin and the nervous system that often causes epileptic seizures.
The man had a similar accident a year earlier
After a similar accident about a year earlier, in which, however, no one was injured, the man had been treated on an outpatient basis in the neurosurgical polyclinic of the University Clinic in Wrzburg. Concerning his driver’s license, however, the defendant did not pass on a letter from the clinic for further therapy to his treating doctor or to the company doctor of his employer. The letter stated, among other things, that the patient would not be able to get back behind the wheel for twelve months without a seizure, for which period a driving ban was ordered for medical reasons.
In the first spectacular accident, the defendant had run over an intersection with red traffic lights between Hchberg and Kist and had also sped at high speed at the edge of the forest into a sales stand for Christmas trees. Fortunately, however, there were neither salespeople nor customers on site. The man, a postman by trade, wanted to keep his driver’s license. He had been temporarily parked in a hall by his employer to sort letters and missed contact with the customer there, he said.
Father of the killed reminds of his son: a special person
The defendant recently transferred 2,000 euros to the parents of the victim. He wanted to say that this would not bring them back their son, but then the statement stopped and his defense attorney, attorney Gerhard Zapff, stepped in: the defendant had “saved this money from his mouth”, it was a small fortune for him.
As a co-plaintiff, the father of the victim pointed out what a special person his son was. He was always there for others, from an early age. At first he was with the Retzbach acolytes, later with the fire brigade, then his father’s voice failed. The wife added: He had helped everyone, and we were grateful “that we had him”. When the defendant apologized at the so-called “last word”, the mother accepted it.
When giving reasons for the verdict, the presiding judge Paul Thal said that the accused had no criminal record, showed remorse and released the doctors from their obligation to maintain confidentiality. This contributed to the clarification of the event. The fact that the 54-year-old “withheld” the doctor’s letter from the clinic and did not inform the treating doctors about the content is a serious accusation.
The judgment is not yet final.
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