Effective sentence for a truck driver who caused a death on the road and fled the scene

Post Views: 14

The Razgrad District Court found 44-year-old J.M. guilty. a native of Pazardzhik, for violating traffic rules and carelessly causing the death of a 56-year-old man from the town of Isperih, driver of a Mercedes car. This was announced by the press service of the court.

The criminal proceedings were heard under the terms of a summary trial, with the defendant fully admitting the facts and circumstances set forth in the indictment. Under this procedure, upon a conviction, the “imprisonment” penalty is necessarily reduced by 1/3.

The traffic accident occurred shortly before 10 am on 03.10.2022 on the Ruse – Varna road. Y.M. drove a fleet of vehicles – a Mercedes Actros tractor and a Kögel trailer. On the day of the accident, it was raining lightly, the road was wet, yet he was driving at a speed of 87 km/h, with the maximum permitted speed of 70 km/h. At the bends before the town of Tsar Kaloyan activated the braking system and switched to a lower gear. As a result of these actions, the trailer veered to the left, obstructed the entire traffic lane and hit the oncoming Mercedes, driven by a 56-year-old man from Isperich.

Despite the collision, the defendant did not stop at the scene of the accident. As a result of the accident and the numerous injuries received, the driver of the passenger car died later in the hospital in Razgrad. The companion of the deceased driver was also taken to the Razgrad hospital, but escaped without serious injuries.

Shortly after 12:00 noon, the truck was stopped on the Targovishte ring road, where the driver was tested for alcohol and drugs, and then detained. His field drug test revealed the use of the narcotic substance methadone.

From the conclusion of the appointed forensic chemical examination for the detection of drugs in the blood of Y.M. it becomes clear that the presence of narcotic substances or their metabolites was not detected in the examined biological sample.

For the committed crime, the three-member panel of the Razgrad District Court sentenced the TIR driver to 6 years of “imprisonment”, which reduced by a third to 4 years the “imprisonment” he would have served under the original general regime .

The defendant is disqualified from driving a motor vehicle for a period of five years.

The court sentenced him to pay, at the expense of OP-Razgrad, costs of the pre-trial proceedings in the amount of BGN 2,419.90, as well as costs of the proceedings for attorney’s fees – BGN 2,250 for each of the three private accusers.

The sentence is subject to appeal or protest before the Court of Appeal – Varna within 15 days.