A 38-year-old man from Ruinerwold must pay a fine of 750 euros for causing a serious accident on the Haakswold near Meppel. The court finds that the man made a serious traffic error by being busy with his son in the back seat of the car, instead of with the traffic on the road.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) previously demanded a community service of sixty hours. The man was traveling with three children in the car on July 1 last year. In the hamlet of Haakswold he saw that his youngest’s head was not lying properly in the maxi-cosi. He tried to position the baby’s head correctly with one hand on the steering wheel. Because the car started to sway, it collided with an oncoming car, containing a woman and three children.
The driver suffered a concussion, bruises and bruises. The Public Prosecution Service assumed that driving behavior was very inattentive. The man could be accused of gross negligence, the public prosecutor said earlier during the court hearing. This comes down to Article 6: the most serious offense in the Road Traffic Act.
The judge believes that the man made the wrong choice. He should have stopped his car somewhere, but chose to straighten the child while driving on a busy road.
Due to his inattention he caused danger on the road, the judge said. When ‘Article 6’ applies, there must at least be serious bodily injury. And that is not the case in this case. The judge finds that the man is not guilty of a crime, but has committed an offense. This makes the punishment milder. The judge took into account that the man had not previously been convicted.
After the incident, the thirty-something from Ruinerwold entered into a mediation process with the victims. That also works out in his favor. The Public Prosecution Service also demanded a conditional driving ban of eight months. The judge reduced the additional suspended sentence to three months.