Fatal accident: two-year conditional sentence for the driver of the car

Mrs. D. is not present at the hearing, she is represented by her lawyer, André, Attorney-at-Law. Her absence is regretted by the Prosecutor's office. “The least of things is to take responsibility for her actions by attending the hearing, even though they are involuntary”, commented the Deputy Prosecutor Yves Paillard. Mrs. D. is accused of causing the death of a man in a road accident on July 29, 2016, in Cripple Gate (on the French side) around 7:35 pm.

This day, sidewalk repairs are performed. The driver indicates having to veer slightly to avoid the studs on the side. According to witnesses, she drives in the middle of the road, bordering two other cars. She acknowledged having heard someone honking her. While she is in the middle of the road, she struck a man on the scooter in the opposite direction. The man not wearing a helmet is seriously injured. He is taken by the firefighters at the Concordia Hospital where he died in the evening.

The gendarmes conducted the evaluation of the alcohol level of Mrs. D., which will reveal a rate of 0.73 mg of alcohol per liter of air expired; the allowed threshold being 0.25. She acknowledges the facts and was steered to the middle of the road. The Prosecutor’s office requested a sentence of 12 months in prison with nine months conditional, a cancellation of the driver’s license and a ban to retake it during twelve months, as well as a fine of 150 euros. After deliberating, the Court pronounced a conditional prison sentence of two years, a suspension of the driver's license for six months with provisional execution and a fine of 150 euros.

The request of the plaintiff (i.e. the concubine of the driver of the scooter in that capacity and in her capacity as legal representative of their 15-year-old daughter at the time of the facts) for compensation in respect of damage (moral, economic, etc.) was deferred to another hearing on June 8.