Almost four years after he sustained a paraplegia in a bicycle accident in his hometown of Eindhoven, the victim received some satisfaction. A man who had drunk heavily and drove him from a cycle path came from the court in Den Bosch with a fine of 100 euros. On appeal, the Court of Appeal stipulated that the victim is entitled to compensation of nearly 250,000 euros.
The perpetrator must also go to prison for three months.
The 60-year-old victim owes this conviction to the Public Prosecution Service. That had appealed against the court’s decision in the autumn of 2023.
The accident happened on August 5, 2021, around a quarter to eight in the morning near the Technical University. The two cyclists had collided in the vicinity of the Dommeltunnel. The man who was seriously injured was taken to the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital in Tilburg under the supervision of a trauma doctor.
“Did not pay guilt”
The other cyclist was slightly injured in his head. He was arrested and taken to the police station for interrogation. “This is the standard procedure for these types of collisions with serious physical injury,” a police spokesman said. In 2023 the perpetrator seemed to escape a spicy punishment. He only received a fine of 100 euros because he had drunk too much. According to the judge, it could not be proven that he was blamed for the collision.
The public prosecutor had demanded three months in prison and found the damage claim of 292,000 euros that the Eindhoven citizen submitted. The Advocate General at the Court thought the same thing about it. He found a supporter in the court: the perpetrator acted considerably careless and inattentive.
‘Dark and unsafe’
The perpetrator acknowledged that he had drunk too much the previous day and also said that he had not seen the Eindhoven citizen when he was cycling hard with a friend: “For me it was dark and unsafe.” The man, who has been convicted of alcohol abuse before, kept insufficiently right and caused the serious traffic accident.
The victim stated that there was no room for him anymore: “I think, I only screamed. When I woke up I lay on the floor, with the bike between my legs. I couldn’t move anything anymore.” The Eindhoven resident is permanently disabled: “I don’t have more than talking, independent breathing and an independent digestive system. Together with my partner I have been moving in survival mode for years.”
Immediately after the accident, the police made an investigation: