Will he get his driver’s license back? The 24-year-old JR from Kreileroord again made his request to the court in Alkmaar today. R. crashed his sports car into two trees on the Opmouderweg in Opmeer last April. His co-driver and friend, a 29-year-old from Rotterdam, died of his injuries a few days later. R. admits to having made a stupid mistake: “I drove too fast and recklessly.”
Well-groomed and calm, R. sits opposite the judges, who explain that only R.’s request for a refund of his driving license will be dealt with during the interim hearing. As a result of the accident, he is not allowed to drive for at least nine months by the judiciary. But the suspect says he cannot continue without a driver’s license to resume his normal life. That would be good to be able to process his psychological complaints.
157 kilometers per hour
The public prosecutor does not agree: “On Saturday evening, April 22, R. is said to have caused an accident due to reckless driving and inattention, resulting in the death of his friend. He behaved in such a way that he created a danger and inconvenience to the public. away is.” R. was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
And there’s more going on. R. also lost his driver’s license in 2021, says the public prosecutor, when he drove at 157 kilometers per hour on a road where 100 is allowed. “Even then he had a friend as a passenger. That punishment has not led to different behavior. I see no reason to return the driver’s license, because nothing has changed in the situation.”
“Did I learn from it? Yes, I made a stupid mistake. I was speeding and reckless”
R. declares in court that he has bad days and better days. That he doesn’t do much more than sleep, watch TV and that apart from moving to Kreileroord he has had nothing to do in recent months. “Had I known what the outcome of April 22 would have been, I would never have gotten in the car. Have I learned from it? Yes, I made a stupid mistake.”
Trivial
And yet R. believes that he can only continue if he gets his driver’s license back. He lives remote, he thinks, and his friends from the sports car world also live far away. His lawyer Spoelstra: “There are only losers in this case. Maybe the loss can be a little less for my client if he can also get back to work as a truck driver. My client is aware that reclaiming his driver’s license is only a something trivial in relation to the victim.”
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R. has been fond of sports cars since childhood. He has driven on the Zandvoort circuit and has several sports cars. “But my wild hair has fallen out. I have a sports car for sale. It is the car in which my (deceased) friend last drove. I can no longer look at it.”
The court in Alkmaar will announce in two weeks whether R. will get his driver’s license back. A mediation process has now been started between the suspect and the victim’s next of kin. It is not yet known when the criminal case will be dealt with substantively.