A truck driver sentenced for causing an accident on the A28, in Sées

A 52-year-old heavy goods vehicle driver was tried on Thursday, May 16, for accident of traffic that occurred, Thursday October 5, 2023, on the A28 motorwayto the height of Sees (Orne). The Alençon criminal court had to determine whether the defendant had endangered the lives of others before knowingly fleeing.

He hit a van in a construction zone

On the day of the accident, the driver was making a delivery between Maine-et-Loire and Le Havre. Around 11 a.m., he had a “moment of inattention” while rummaging in his mini-fridge for something to eat and didn’t notice that he was arriving in a work zone.

If he managed to “turn the wheel” at the last minute, he still hit the signage at the rear of the motorway van. Fortunately, no one was on board. The responding officer was about thirty meters from the vehicle.

The driver did not stop immediately after the collision, suggesting that he had committed a hit-and-run. He denies it: “I continued on my way to avoid stopping and causing another accident,” he argued at the bar, specifying that he had ensured that no one had been hurt. “I immediately contacted my company to tell them that I had hit a truck and I went to the Bernay gendarmerie. »

“We need repression for behavior to change”

His company actually called the police immediately to report the accident. “If I had wanted to escape, I would have gotten off the highway and taken the secondary road. »

The defendant had already been convicted once for traffic offenses in 2009. He has a thirty years in the profession and still works for the same transport company as at the time of the events.

The society Alis, responsible for operating the portion of the A28 between Alençon and Sées, asked the courts to take action. “Some officers lose their lives ensuring the safety of highway users. In addition to prevention, repression is needed for behavior to change,” declared a representative of the highway concessionaire.

The latter also informed that the same road agent had already been the victim of an accident, “almost in the same place”.

Sentenced to a fine of €400

The prosecutor requested the acquittal for the hit-and-run, considering that “by his action, the gendarmes knew that he was responsible”. She also wanted the reclassification of acts of endangering others into lack of control.

The court followed the requisitions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and sentenced the driver to a fine of €400.

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