the driver had been driving since 6 p.m., “he crushed our beloved daughter”

She was 27 years old and had her whole life ahead of her. Sandra lost her life in a fraction of a second in a road accident on November 29, 2023 shortly before 2 p.m.

Stopped at a construction fire while driving her Toyota Aygo due to pruning work, the young woman was hit with extreme violence by a Romanian driver who was driving an Opel Movano van.

The van’s driver, Ionut Miron, 41, had left Romania the previous evening and admitted to taking only a few quick breaks to refuel and drink coffee. Several witnesses spoke of his “dangerous driving”, his reckless overtaking and his excessive speed before the tragedy. “No wheel (of his vehicle) touched the ground,” described a man who witnessed the accident. The accident assessment concluded that the professional driver, who had already driven nearly 18 hours straight without any real rest, would have hit the city car at 122 km/h. She crashed into a heavy goods vehicle stationary in front of her. Sandra had no chance of getting out of this.

“Sandra had left Strasbourg, where she had grown up, because she had gotten a job in Troyes,” Dominique, her mother, confided to our colleagues from Est Eclair, who are relaying the report of the hearing which was held this week.

“We are living a waking nightmare. He crushed our beloved daughter in his car. We don’t know how long she suffered. She was stopped at a light, he did not respect any rules (…) I hope that he will no longer cause other victims with his irresponsible and criminal attitude,” testifies Éric, Sandra’s father, with humility.

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Placed in pre-trial detention since the events, Ionut Miron has always indicated that he fell asleep before the impact, a version incompatible with the testimonies collected on site and the technical findings. The driver claimed not to have seen the signs announcing the work and not to know the European rules regarding compulsory rest.