Brussels (Brussels Morning) – The police judge in Turnhout charged a driving ban but no prison sentence on a 24-year-old driver from Arendonk who drove a red light on the ring road in Geel at the end of 2022 and killed two people in their sixties in their car.
An individual FS (24) from Arendonk is guilty before the police court in Turnhout of the unexpected killing of a couple aged 68 and 67 and injuring their 43-year-old daughter.
How Did the Fatal Collision Occur in Geel?
The fatal collision occurred on December 26, 2022, at the intersection where the Geelse Ringlaan R14 turns into the N19g, the express road to Kasterlee. A small passenger car wanted to turn left at the junction in the direction of Mol at 3:40 p.m. The car was struck by a van with FS at the wheel. She wanted to drive directly from the direction of Mol onto the N19g towards Kasterlee but missed the red traffic light and hit the car in the side. No help could help the couple in their sixties, on their way to a Christmas party.
Driver FS, who suffered minor injuries, declared she had become unwell and had no memory of the accident. She lowered her speed from more than 100 kilometres per hour to approximately 72 kilometres per hour. And just before that she reached 143 kilometers per hour on the E313.
A month ago, the Public Prosecution Service requested for S. to be sentenced to six months in prison and a driving ban of six months. For the lawyer of the young, pregnant woman, a prison sentence does not apply and an acquittal was appropriate. “The harshest punishment is that two people died because of her and she has to live with that. A prison sentence is a step too far,” said Bart Vosters. “It was an accident in the purest sense of the word.”
What Penalties Did the Turnhout Court Impose?”
The police judge uncovered that the woman was indeed responsible for the fatal accident, but a prison sentence was not a possibility for him. He sentenced her to a three-month driving ban, two months of which were discontinued. After the driving ban ends, she must retake her theoretical and practical exams and undergo medical and psychological tests. The driver still has to settle a fine of 4,000 euros, of which 3,200 euros is postponed.
“Given the speed determinations by the track and trace system in the defendant’s vehicle, it cannot be said that she was an impeccable and always careful driver until before the accident,” the police judge in Turnhout ruled. “But a prison sentence, even if suspended, has no added value. The court considers the clean criminal record of the defendant, who will soon give birth, as a mitigating circumstance.”
The court further discovered that there was no real proof of a physical breakdown just before the accident in question. “Hopefully the defendant understands that her mere assertion of a physical breakdown, without any support from a medical document, is not reasonable,” the judge found. “It is not credible that she could have driven the two-kilometre road to the scene of the accident, including a bend in that stretch, without being aware of it at the time.”
