At a public meeting held on January 9, 2024, the Debrecen Court of Justice announced a final decision in the criminal case in which the defendant ran over the victim in Debrecen, at one of the Böszörményi út pedestrian crossings. The pedestrian died as a result of the accident.
In the case of the misdemeanor of negligently causing a fatal road accident, the court of the second instance changed the judgment of the District Court of Debrecen on February 8, 2023, about a seized criminal sign, and upheld the first instance judgment in other respects.
The court sentenced the man to 2 years in prison and banned him from driving for 2 years and 6 months.
According to the facts established by the court, on September 6, 2021, early in the morning, the accused was driving a car in Debrecen, on Böszörményi út, which is a busy two-lane road. At the time of the accident, there was little traffic, and the traffic light controlling the traffic on the road section gave a flashing yellow signal. There were four people in the car, everyone was using a seat belt.
Due to the extreme inattention of the driver, he noticed very late that vehicles had stopped in front of him in both traffic lanes, as well as next to him, in front of the designated pedestrian crossing, where the 63-year-old woman was crossing at the pedestrian crossing. At the moment of entering the roadway, the car driven by the accused was still 197 meters away from the scene of the crime, and after 10.6 seconds, with a significant delay in detection, with emergency braking applied 1.3 seconds before the collision, the car hit the pedestrian at a speed of 62 km/h. As a result of the accident, the victim suffered such serious, life-threatening injuries that the old woman died on the spot. The fatal accident occurred due to the defendant’s grossly negligent violation of traffic rules.
In his oral explanation, Dr. Antal Nagy, the president of the council, said that since the case was subject to a limited review, the court could not examine the facts established in the first-instance verdict or the legality of the classification. The tribunal established that the first-instance court fully complied with the applicable criminal procedure rules and found the accused guilty. The first-instance court revealed all the circumstances that are proportional to the crime, inherent in the accused’s personality, that pose a threat to traffic safety, as well as mitigating circumstances that can be written in his favor. The tribunal reflected on the defense counsel’s suggestion that the pedestrian crossing was not properly painted and its visibility was obscured by vegetation. In this round, it was emphasized that the defendant, driving on the road section he knew, exceeded the 50 km/h speed limit and drove towards the pedestrian crossing, which was also shown by the yellow flashing light of the signal light placed there. This in itself showed that the scene of the accident must be approached with increased caution. It is also a fact that the victim who died in the accident was given the right of way by three moving vehicles stopping. From this point of view, it can also be noted that the defendant’s high level of carelessness led to the accident, with a flagrant violation of the applicable traffic rules, which was assessed by the court during the sentencing.
Dr. Antal Nagy emphasized that the fact that the accused had committed an intentional traffic crime, drunken driving, more than a month before the occurrence of this accident, criminal proceedings against him were in progress, so it would have been even more expected of the accused to drive with extra caution.
The court’s verdict became final.
(Debrecen Court of Justice)
