A 47-year-old man from Bergentheim has been acquitted by the court in Assen for causing a fatal accident in Zwinderen. According to the court, there is too much uncertainty about the circumstances of the accident, in which a 77-year-old woman died.
Last year on August 23, the man overtook four cyclists on the Nijlandseweg near Zwinderen with a mobile crane, with a potato sieve machine attached to it. The cyclists rode one after the other. While overtaking, an oncoming vehicle approached. According to witnesses, the agricultural vehicle swerved slightly to the right.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the accident was the man’s fault. A community service order of 240 hours and a driving ban of three months were required.
However, according to the court, it cannot be established that the man is to blame for the accident, because there are too many doubts about the precise circumstances. There could be something to be said for both scenarios.
“It cannot be determined whether the victim had already come into contact with the right side of the vehicle combination before the fall. It also cannot be ruled out that the victim lost her balance while driving past the vehicle combination and fell as a result.” Because of that doubt, the court acquitted the man.
The court stated that it was aware that the verdict may be ‘disappointing’ for the surviving relatives and said that it realizes that the consequences of the accident are ‘particularly tragic’.
Senegal
