Turnhout (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): A tragic accident in Kortemark claimed the lives of a young family involving a 50-year-old man from Turnhout driving under the influence. This driver had 14 prior convictions and was mistakenly allowed to drive despite a 45-day ban. The incident has sparked outrage and calls for stricter laws to prevent repeat offenders from endangering lives on the road.
Last weekend a young family from Kortemark tragically lost their lives in an accident. The incident involved a 50-year-old man from Turnhout who was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time. This driver has a troubling history with 14 prior convictions. The event has shocked the local community, especially considering the driver’s criminal background and the fact that he was still on the road despite his previous offenses. It has been said that this tragedy has caused a lot of anger and raised serious questions about how well current laws work to keep repeat offenders from being a danger on the roads. The case will be thoroughly investigated focusing on how someone with such a long criminal record especially for drunk driving was still allowed to drive. The community is grieving the terrible loss while also calling for stronger measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
What went wrong with the enforcement of driving bans?
It turned out that the man had received a 45-day driving ban in 2021 and he could only regain his license by retaking both the theoretical and practical driving tests as well as passing medical and psychological evaluations. However this ruling was never communicated to him so the sentence was never enforced. The West Flanders public prosecutor’s office stated that the fault did not lie with them instead it was the police’s responsibility to inform the man about the driving ban. They were unable to locate him at his residence which led to him being reported. Eventually the driver went to the police last month because he couldn’t find his driver’s license. When the police checked their database they discovered that there was still a driving ban in his name.
The driver was with the police but they couldn’t enforce the driving ban because it requires a real driving license not a duplicate or a lost license certificate. He needs to apply for a new license first before the police can enforce the ban and he was given a date of August 12 to serve the ban which was just a day after the fatal accident in Ruddervoorde. The lawyer for the victims’ family said that this mistake doesn’t matter to them now as the sentence likely wouldn’t have stopped him from driving again. The fifty-year-old appeared in the Bruges council chamber yesterday where his detention was extended by one month.
