Chaotic circumstances

First responder killed on the A9: Three drivers in court

The truck pushed the concrete elements onto the opposite lane, causing subsequent accidents.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

In the case of a first responder who tragically lost his life after an accident on the Pyhrn motorway (A9) last year, the Graz public prosecutor's office accuses a truck driver of falling asleep at the wheel and two car drivers of carelessness. This resulted in a terrible chain of events. The defense attorneys speak of an unfortunate accident.

When the accident happened last July, it was pouring rain on the A9 near Seiersberg, with lightning and thunder, and at 4 a.m. it was also pitch dark. The accused truck driver (55) from Bosnia veered off the road to the right shortly after the Plabutsch tunnel while heading south – "due to microsleep," as the prosecutor accuses him.

Concrete elements as the trigger for subsequent accidents
The heavy vehicle skidded into the central reservation and pushed the concrete elements onto the opposite lane. And from there, the accident took its terrible course. A 58-year-old man from Styria, who was driving north, saw the concrete elements too late and collided with them. His car was thrown onto the deceleration lane, where a truck driver had stopped to help.

Anyone can drive too fast at some point. But in your case, it was fatal.

Richter Erik Nauta

Bild: Jürgen Fuchs

The truck pushed the concrete elements onto the opposite lane, causing subsequent accidents.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Shortly afterwards, a nurse (55) from Slovenia also crashed into the displaced central barrier – and her Mercedes was thrown right into the first responder. The 43-year-old man from Lower Austria bled to death at the scene of the accident.

Truck driver claims he did not fall asleep
The court must now determine who was negligent in causing his death. Except for the truck driver, everyone else had adjusted their speed to the weather conditions. "I admit that I was driving too fast," confessed the Bosnian. Judge Erik Nauta. "That can happen to anyone. But in your case, it was fatal," emphasized the presiding judge.

He also claims he did not fall asleep. "I wasn't tired at all. There was aquaplaning." However, the expert report contradicts this. "The tachograph doesn't show that either. Why didn't you reduce your speed?" asks Nauta. "I had no control, I couldn't steer," says the defendant. And: "I was afraid." Also for the load, which consisted of yogurt. "The yogurt is perhaps less important when you consider the consequences of the accident," replies the judge.

"The collision warning system also failed to respond."
The defense attorneys for the other two speak of an "unfortunate event that no one could have prevented." The 58-year-old driver was so seriously injured that he was in a coma. The nurse, who bursts into tears several times in court, insists that she did not see the obstacle. "How could anyone have seen it? Everything was gray on gray and nothing reflected light," said her lawyer. "The collision warning system also failed to activate."

The hearing had to be adjourned to discuss the vehicle report.