Federal Court: no reprieve for repeat driver

She would have preferred a firm financial sentence or a suspended prison sentence. But this motorist will get neither. This driver, a repeat offender, is sentenced to nine months in prison and a fine of 900 francs for simple and serious violations of road traffic rules, attempting to obstruct measures to establish incapacity to drive and violation of obligations in accident case. The Federal Court has just confirmed the judgment pronounced by the Eastern Vaudois Tribunal and ratified by the Cantonal Court.

The events took place on the A9 motorway, in June 2021, around 2 a.m. The defendant was traveling in the right lane. After passing a refueling area, she caught up, while flashing her headlights, with a motorist who had just left the area and was driving on the right lane, tailgating him at about 10 meters, for nearly 200 meters. Then, she suddenly moved to the left to pass him. But, driving at an inappropriate speed without respecting safety distances, she was not able to avoid hitting and damaging her vehicle.

Lack of awareness

She nevertheless continued on her way, evading her duties in the event of an accident, in order to avoid a check on her physical condition: she had just consumed alcohol. Subsequently, she did not stop her vehicle as ordered by the police patrol who pursued her with all priority means engaged, blue lights, horns, or other “Stop Police” matrix. Off the highway, she outpaced the police who were driving at a speed of around 100 km/h in areas outside localities. Later, the Pandoras nevertheless found themselves face to face with the fugitive and blocked her path. But the driver fled at full speed, taking the sidewalk.

The Appellant cited a difficult personal situation. She contested, in particular, her conviction for serious violation of traffic rules and the prison sentence she had received. To justify her hit-and-run, she explained that she became frightened during the shock and reacted unconsciously.

However, she had already been convicted twice for similar acts. The Federal Court admitted that the monetary penalty of 130 days-firm fine imposed in August 2021 was subsequent to the facts with which he is accused in this trial. But, like the Cantonal Court, the federal judges held that the prognosis for his future behavior appeared entirely unfavorable given his repeated offenses after conviction and his lack of awareness.

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Claude Béda is a journalist for the 24-hour Vaudois section. Passionate about social issues and the lives of people here, he covered several regions of the canton, before joining the Lausanne editorial staff. More info

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