A 57-year-old from Sachsenkam was sentenced by the district court to a fine of 2,750 euros. He drunkenly rammed a school bus on January 31st.
Sachsenkam/Wolfratshausen – A bus driver and 15 elementary school students were very lucky on January 31st of this year when their bus was rammed by an Opel. All occupants remained uninjured, as did the person who caused the accident, for whom the incident recently had consequences in the district court in Wolfratshausen: The Sachsenkamer (57) had to answer for negligently endangering road traffic; he had almost 1.4 per mille of alcohol in his blood at the time of the accident .
Drunk driver collides with school bus: man is fined
The man was sentenced to a fine of 50 daily rates of 50 euros each, a total of 2,750 euros. He has to give up his driving license for a total of nine months. The court gave him a month because he had undergone a so-called fast-track trial: the defendant admits the facts and no witnesses are called. This saves the judiciary time and effort, which has a positive impact on the sentence.
The defendant described how January 31st had developed from his perspective that he had done a few small things in his workshop early that day and “drank a beer while he was working.” Given the blood alcohol level that was later determined, “it must have been several half-ounces,” objected the judge. The Sachsenkamer did not object.
A collision with an oncoming Opel could not be prevented
After a snack, he “just wanted to do something quick in Reichersbeuern,” the man explained. During the journey the car window was open and, he suspected, he had to sneeze two or three times because of the pollen. “Then there was the bus...” Its driver, as can be seen from the police report at the time, slammed on the brakes and steered the bus as far as he could to the right edge of the road, where he hit a garden fence.
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He was unable to prevent the collision with the oncoming Opel, which had veered a bit into the oncoming lane in a curve. According to the police report, the damage to the bus amounted to around 20,000 euros, and the defendant's car was a total loss.
Judge Helmut Berger: “The alcohol had exactly the effect that we know”
It is undisputed that there was drunkenness, but he did not see a connection between the alcohol and the accident, the defense attorney explained. “The road is narrow and winding, the bus is big and fat,” said the lawyer. “He had to sneeze, so he twisted the steering wheel.”
The court contradicted this. “The alcohol had exactly the effect that we know,” emphasized Judge Helmut Berger in his verdict. “When you sneeze, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your car will warp.”
With the fine of 2,750 euros, the court remained well below the request of the public prosecutor, who had requested 4,900 euros (70 daily rates of 70 euros each). The court saw no reason for further accommodation regarding the driver's license suspension. “We know that local public transport is difficult in the country,” Berger stated succinctly. “Then you can’t warm up in the morning.”
(rst)