Conditional prison sentence

Drunk driver rammed into young Styrian woman during Perchten run

Major operation for the emergency services after the accident in Pöllau.(Bild: FF Pöllau)

"I'm glad she's doing as well as she is today. It didn't look so good at first. She was lucky, and maybe I was too!" - Last fall, a drunk driver rammed into a pedestrian at the edge of a Perchtenlauf. The 17-year-old Styrian was critically injured and only just survived. The 31-year-old driver was sentenced on Wednesday.

"My client deeply regrets everything. He has also apologized to the victim's family. There is nothing to gloss over. He was heavily intoxicated," explained defense lawyer Georg Prem. But the victim was partly to blame because he was distracted by a phone call and crossed the road without looking. "That should nevertheless be taken into account."

Four large beers drunk
"What happened on November 17th. Tell us what you were doing that day," Judge Kornelia Philipp asked the defendant. "I was working and then drank two large beers with the builder. After that, I went to the petrol station because I wanted to make an appointment to get my license plate number and drank two more large beers. On an empty stomach, even if that doesn't excuse it," says the father of the family.

It made me go crazy. Then I was in a state of shock and drove home. I regret that very much.

Der Angeklagte

"Four minutes later, it happened"
Then he drove home in his van. "Unfortunately, it happened four minutes later." He knew about the Perchtenlauf because he only lives two kilometers away. "There was a Golf in front of me, it slowed down considerably and then turned off. I let myself roll onto it." - "How fast were you going?" asks the judge. "40 to 50 km/h, more like 50." 

"I made the wrong decision"
"Why didn't you see the girl?" - "Probably because I was drunk. And maybe she didn't see that I was moving because the Golf turned in front of me. Maybe she thought I was turning too." Then it would have made a clunk. "I was in a state of shock, of course. Then I made the wrong decision and drove home. I regret that very much, you can't just drive away." But he definitely didn't want to cover anything up.

They were driving too fast, they were drunk. The accident could have been avoided.

Richterin Kornelia Philipp

"Did you notice that it was a person you hit?" the prosecutor wants to know. "Yes, I recognized it on the windscreen." But it was only after driving 300 meters that he actually realized it. It was only later that a neighbor brought him back to the scene of the accident. 

 Girl was seriously injured
"It wasn't nothing," emphasized the victim's representative, despite the defendant's remorse and confession. His client, who has no memory of the accident, was massively injured: polytrauma, serial bone fractures, severe craniocerebral trauma. "Tomorrow, six months later, she will start a four-week rehabilitation program."

The defendant doesn't sugarcoat anything either: "I'm glad she's doing as well as she is. It didn't look good at the beginning. I'm really very sorry." The verdict: 240 daily rates of 26 euros, making an unconditional fine of 6240 euros and a five-month suspended prison sentence. "You were driving too fast, you were drunk. The accident could have been avoided," explains the judge.

He accepts immediately. The public prosecutor makes no statement, so the verdict is not yet final.