Without a driver's license

Woman without a driver’s license races through town with child

The Iraqi woman ignored the police's requests (symbolic image).(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Irresponsible! A 29-year-old Iraqi woman fled from a police checkpoint in Linz on Saturday evening. The woman and her nine-year-old daughter raced through the city like crazy, disregarding red lights and speed limits. During her wild escape, she not only damaged her own car, but also four other vehicles, including a police car. The driver without a license was arrested.

It all started quite harmlessly: a police patrol wanted to carry out a routine check on a car on the A7 in Haid near the Wiener Straße junction at around 8.30 p.m. on Saturday evening. But the driver, a 29-year-old Iraqi woman from Linz, disregarded the stop signs and accelerated unexpectedly instead.

She fled along Wiener Straße in the direction of Bulgariplatz, where she ignored several red lights and sped through the intersections without braking. She paid no heed to speed limits and then drove onto a streetcar line that was separated by a barrier.

Cars damaged
In the Wankmüllerhofstraße area, she is said to have been traveling at 145 km/h. She damaged a parked car in the process. As she continued to rush along Kremplstraße to B1-Wiener Straße, she hit another car in oncoming traffic. 

The Iraqi woman ignored the police's requests (symbolic image).(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

The officers had to drag the 29-year-old out of the car due to her resistance - in front of her daughter (symbolic image).(Bild: Uta Rojsek-Wiedergut)

At the Scharlinz stop, she turned her vehicle around and drove along the B1 towards the city center at 140 km/h again. She finally turned into Rosenbauerstraße and was consequently blocked in Fichtenstraße by a courageous, uninvolved road user in a small truck and a patrol car.

Nevertheless, she tried to continue driving and damaged the emergency vehicle and a parked car. When the 29-year-old was asked to leave her vehicle, however, she refused and tried to prevent the officers from opening the vehicle door. 

Resistance against the authorities
The woman had to be pulled out of her damaged Mercedes using physical force. Due to her immense resistance, she could only be overpowered and arrested with the support of a SIG patrol. One officer suffered an injury to his hand as a result of her fierce resistance.

The nine-year-old child was then handed over to her father - the youth welfare department was informed.

Why did the 29-year-old flee? She did not have a valid driver's license. The Iraqi woman was arrested and taken to the police detention center, where she was detained overnight. She was only allowed to return to her family after an interrogation on Sunday. She now faces numerous charges and hefty fines. The Mercedes could not be confiscated as it was not registered to the Iraqi woman.

„KRONE“-Kommentar

Lieber Helikopter- als Rabenmama

People often complain about "helicopter parents" who are overprotective or overanxious when raising their children because they want to protect them from any kind of negative experience. The danger here is, of course, that children are inhibited in their free development, which can also affect their independence.

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

In comparison, however, when you hear about parents like the speeding driver without a license in Linz, who consciously accept that their recklessness puts their own child's life in danger, you wish they had more helicopter characteristics. And hope that the youth welfare authorities will intervene.