The court found that she had been drinking the day before. In the morning she got behind the wheel and was going to a job interview. She failed to give way to a motorcyclist. The 47-year-old died on the spot, he had two children. The 27-year-old driving the BMW was still drunk. The verdict was passed in her case and she voluntarily submitted to the punishment.
The accident occurred on May 3 in Skrzeszew near Legionowo, on Nasielska Street. As the Legionowo police reported at the time, the driver of the BMW, when turning left, did not give way to a motorcyclist who was going straight. There was a collision. The man fell off the bike and hit the Opel that was driving behind the BMW. He suffered serious injuries. An air ambulance helicopter landed at the scene, but the man could not be saved.
The case was heard by the District Court in Legionowo. The verdict was handed down in August. A 27-year-old woman was sentenced to four years in prison for causing a fatal accident and driving under the influence of alcohol. The court also decided that she would never be able to get behind the wheel. In addition, he ordered compensation for the family – PLN 15,000 for the wife and children of the deceased man.
The young woman decided to voluntarily submit to punishment, but the court, the prosecutor and the deceased's relatives did not object. We have reached the justification of the judgment.
She was driving drunk to a job interview
As we read in the justification for the judgment, the court had no doubts as to the defendant's guilt.
“In the court's opinion, the accused acted intentionally, but with intent, because she was aware that she had drunk a considerable amount of alcohol the previous evening, and the next day around 11 a.m. she decided to drive a car, accepting that she might still be intoxicated. At about 10 a.m. “11 hours before driving the car, the accused drank about 1.5 liters of beer and two drinks. She could therefore assume that she was still intoxicated,” the judge justified his decision.
The judge noted that the alcohol content in the driver's blood “exceeded the statutory threshold almost three times.”
“She was driving a car in this condition in the morning hours, on a public road, covering several kilometers from her place of residence to the place of arrest. Her behavior created a potential threat to the safety of other road users. She was acting under normal circumstances, she was traveling in connection with a job advertisement, However, she did not have to drive the car herself, as she could have asked her mother to do so, and she could have used a taxi or public transport,” the judge said.
The judge also noted the motorcyclist's driving, which she said was “correct”.
“The subsidiary prosecutors requested that they receive compensation for the harm suffered, PLN 15,000 each. The subsidiary prosecutors are the people closest to the injured party. Undoubtedly, their life situation has deteriorated because he was the main breadwinner of the family and left his wife with minor children,” he writes in the justification. judge.
The mitigating circumstances, according to the court, were “admitting guilt, remorse expressed by the injured party, apology to the injured parties, no criminal record and young age.”
“His journey was interrupted forever.”
The tragedy outraged many residents, which they expressed on social media. The mayor of Wieliszew, Paweł Kownacki, also spoke.
“A 47-year-old man on a motorcycle… unfortunately, his journey was forever interrupted by (…) a drunk person. What punishment can prevent anyone or almost no one from getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol? Classification of driving under the influence as attempted murder ? (…) I think we need greater social ostracism against such people,” he wrote on Facebook.
The plague of drunk drivers. Even the threat of car confiscation does not deter themGrzegorz Jarecki/Fakty po Południu TVN24
Car confiscation – new regulations
In 2024, regulations will come into force enabling the confiscation of cars, including: drunk drivers. According to them, every drunk driver who has at least 1.5 per mille of alcohol in his blood will lose his car, regardless of whether he caused a road accident. Car forfeiture is also to be applied when the driver causes an accident with a blood alcohol content above 100% or in a situation of recidivism.
According to the applicable regulations, the forfeiture of the vehicle is obligatory, among others: in the event that the perpetrator of a catastrophe or accident resulting in death or serious bodily injury was intoxicated and the alcohol content in his body was higher than per mille.
Main photo source: Piotr Mostowiec