Drugged driving

Fatal hit-and-run driver identified

The scene of the accident in Abwinden (municipality of Luftenberg)(Bild: Matthias Lauber/laumat.at)

Intensive investigations by the police, the evaluation of evidence and tips from witnesses have led to the identification of the driver who killed a pedestrian (86) in Abwinden (municipality of Luftenberg) on Easter Sunday, who was trying to cross the B3 together with her husband. The suspect is a 28-year-old man from Mühlviertel. The driver involved in the accident was under the influence of drugs.

The terrible accident on Sunday afternoon caused quite a stir. There was great shock and outrage at the initially unknown driver who had abandoned the dying woman.

Vehicle parts left behind at the scene of the accident finally led investigators to a 28-year-old man from Mühlviertel. Police officers arrested him there at around 8.45 p.m. and took him to the local police station.

Confession made
The suspect is said to have confessed immediately. He is said to have admitted to the hit-and-run and explained that he simply drove on out of fear and panic because he had rammed into a person. 

The scene of the accident in Abwinden(Bild: laumat.at/Matthias Lauber)

A breathalyzer test carried out on the 28-year-old was negative. However, he also agreed to a voluntary urine drug test, which was positive. A doctor subsequently declared the man from Mühlviertel unfit to drive. Blood was also taken from him, but the test results are still pending

According to Section 6 (Para. 3) of the Austrian Criminal Code (StGB), gross negligence is committed by anyone who acts in an unusual and conspicuously careless manner, so that the occurrence of a situation corresponding to the statutory offense was almost foreseeable.

Anyone who causes the death of another person through gross negligence is punishable by up to three years in prison.

Likewise, anyone who negligently causes the death of another person after being intoxicated by alcohol or other intoxicating substances to a state of intoxication that does not exclude sanity must be punished.

The 28-year-old's vehicle - as witnesses suspected, it was indeed an Audi A5 - was provisionally confiscated so that further checks can be carried out.

The man has been reported to the Linz public prosecutor's office and is now being investigated for gross negligence manslaughter.

„Krone“-Kommentar

Drogen und Autos sind nicht kompatibel

After the accident drama in Luftenberg, it should be obvious to everyone that drivers who are high on drugs or other intoxicating substances pose a fatal danger on the roads.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

Unfortunately, you don't need to be a clairvoyant to predict that if marijuana is legalized in this country - as some parties are calling for - many more people will automatically get behind the wheel of a vehicle while intoxicated. 

In the interests of road safety, we should therefore be strictly against it, regardless of which world view we share!