This Thursday, October 3, before the Saintes criminal court, a road drama is being replayed again. A young man from Vibrac, in the south of Charente-Maritime, steps forward to the stand, head bowed. On September 17, 2023, he had been 18 for two months, had his license for two weeks, had a car for a week. He had offered a ride to his girlfriend, sitting in the front, with her twin sister taking the seat in the back. It was raining, and he was definitely driving too fast. “A rocket,” described a witness to the scene.
On the D158E1, the young man overtakes a vehicle. He tumbles onto the departmental 730 near the place called Cottières, in Montguyon, without stopping. A driver passes at the same time on this road linking Saint-Aigulin to Montendre. The shock is terrible. The front passenger was transported to Bordeaux in critical condition. She’ll never get over it. After 40 days of hospitalization, a therapeutic cessation is carried out. Her twin sister was injured, as was the driver.
Diminishing this responsibility only deepens the grief of the family, who need this responsibility to be recognized
“It’s my fault”
“It’s dramatic. This shouldn’t have happened. My father-in-law had advised us not to go there because of the rain. It’s my fault. I regret all that,” said the driver. He thinks he was disturbed by the rain, discussions… He didn’t see the “Stop” sign. “Reducing this responsibility only aggravates the grief of the family, who need this responsibility to be recognized,” underlines Me Brochard, the lawyer for the victim’s family. The 18-year-old girl had to go to study the next day, the “void” is impossible to fill.
Me Vincent Huberdeau emphasizes that his client is also devastated, having great academic difficulty since the accident. He contests the benefit of a firm prison sentence, three years, two of which are suspended, required by the prosecution. The lawyer remembers the first firm sentence handed down in Saintes, which set a precedent. “The driver had been drinking, that’s not the case here. » The young man is sentenced to two years of suspended imprisonment.
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