The road is sometimes cruel. A second of inattention or an error of judgment can lead to the worst. At the end of the summer, in the town of Goux-les-Usiers, it was not a detail that led to the worst, but a series of failings, committed by the driver of an Audi RS6.
Driver ejected through rear window
On September 7, around 12:20 p.m., this violent accident was noted on the RN 57. Emergency services treated three victims, including a man in cardiac arrest, lying near his vehicle. His passenger and the driver of a second car were seriously injured. The police have opened an investigation to try to understand the reasons for this tragedy. And after some observations, the first elements pointed to a high-speed collision.
A car driving fast
The investigation was able to rely on a camera located near the scene. The video taken from this device made it possible to view part of the scene. “The Dacia brakes, but does not stop before moving. The driver is not wearing a seat belt,” comments a gendarme on the report while viewing the images.
“We watch the Audi arrive. She brakes very markedly. We also see the rear rise before the impact. » Witnesses reported being overtaken by the German sedan, a few minutes before the collision. “She was driving very fast,” according to their words, and the man behind the wheel did not hesitate to overtake in a particularly dangerous area.
A reprogramming prohibiting the use of the car
At the hearing this Wednesday, Quentin Le Derout recognized this excessive speed. “I slowed down at the speed camera because I knew it was there. Then I let the car coast. When I arrived at the intersection, I think I was at 100-110 km/h,” the young man calmly states.
Aged 25, this heating engineer working in Switzerland had acquired this vehicle a few months earlier. After a visit to a garage, he increased the power of his car to 700 horsepower. A modification which prevented it from being driven on open roads. “I was unaware that after the reprogramming, I was prohibited from moving freely,” explains the accused. “However, it was mentioned on the mechanic’s invoice,” observes President Robert Pech.
Shared faults for the defense
For Me Bernard, the lawyer for the victims' families: “Involuntary manslaughter is an unacceptable term in the ears of the victims' families. Monsieur Le Derout is a road murderer. What's eating away at him is the prison sentence. But the fact that Claude Garnier is dead doesn't bother him at all. » He also mentioned an important detail: “The Audi was found 160 m from the collision. Monsieur was not driving at 110 km/h, that's not true! »
Facing him, Me Pichoff gave his vision of this matter. “My client is accused of speeding in excess of 50 km/h. This offense involves metrological data, i.e. radar. We don't have any, so there is no excess speed legally speaking but an inappropriate speed,” explains the penalist. Finally, he returned to the exact circumstances of the accident. “What remains once we have analyzed this drama with the video and the testimonies? I have a dangerous intersection, a vehicle traveling at excessive speed. On the other hand, I have a vehicle arriving on a secondary road that violates the right of way, slides on the stop sign and whose driver is not restrained. I may be charged with an infraction. The other three, no. »
The public prosecutor, represented by Alexandra Chaumet, requested five years in prison with continued detention. At the end of the deliberations, Quentin Le Derout received a four-year sentence with continued detention. His driving license was revoked.
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