Bruges (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): On September 16, 2023, in Bruges, JG collided with an elderly woman while biking, leading to the woman’s fall and eventual brain hemorrhage. JG was cleared of manslaughter due to unclear circumstances surrounding the accident.
On September 16, 2023, there was an accident on the bike path of Guido Gezellelaan in Bruges. A woman named JG was riding her bike with her two children. While cycling, she tried to pass an older woman on a bike. During this, their handlebars accidentally touched for a moment.
What led to the fatal fall of an elderly cyclist in Bruges?
At first, the contact between the two bicycles seemed small and didn’t cause any problems. But as they kept riding, the older woman lost her balance and fell off her bike. Even though the collision didn’t seem serious at first, it caused a big issue for her and she needed more help.
After the older woman fell off her bike because of the brief contact with JG’s handlebars, emergency services quickly arrived. Even though she fell, the elderly woman was awake and could talk, and she didn’t seem to have any serious injuries right away. As a safety measure, the paramedics decided to take her to the hospital for a complete check-up. While at the hospital, the older woman’s condition got worse. Doctors found out that she had a brain hemorrhage, which wasn’t obvious right after the accident. Despite the efforts of the medical staff, she passed away just a few hours after being admitted to the hospital.
The case was taken to the police court for the first time at the end of May. It was hard to see how the small crash was linked to the older woman’s brain hemorrhage. They postponed the case until they received a medical report, but by September, that report still didn’t clarify things. The doctor couldn’t tell if she had the brain hemorrhage first or if it was caused by the bump. There were no witnesses either. On 2nd October Wednesday morning, the judge decided to clear JG of unintentional manslaughter because they couldn’t be sure what really happened, and the public prosecutor didn’t bring in an expert to investigate further.
