A 25-year-old man from Emmer-Compascuum is given a very last chance by the judge for life-threatening driving behavior on the N34 and A28. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re not going to jail now. Next time it will be different,” the judge said to the emotional twenty-something.
According to the public prosecutor, the man did ‘very strange’ things in traffic on December 5, 2022 and January 22 of this year. “Very dangerous too.” Both times the driver had used a significant amount of cocaine. He drove more than 200 kilometers per hour on the N34, where 100 kilometers per hour is the maximum speed. He regularly took the wrong side of the road.
The man went wrong-way on an exit near Zuidlaren. An oncoming car had to swerve. The man took a roundabout turn to the left. There too, the cars he encountered shot into the side of the road. Ultimately, the police arrested the man near Zuidlaren in December and his driver’s license was taken away.
In January, the Emmer-Compascumer went off the road after a similar crazy ride on the Dijk between Annen and Zuidlaren. The driver suffered a broken jaw. The man was fortunate that he had not involved other road users in the accident, the prosecutor said. He found that dangerous driving, driving under the influence and driving while his driver’s license had been revoked were proven.
Serious traffic offences, in which he endangered the lives of fellow road users, the public prosecutor said. He demanded a twelve-month driving ban, of which nine months were conditional, a suspended prison sentence of six weeks and ninety hours of community service. The man would have to pay a fine of 1,000 euros for violation. He was still on probation for a one-week suspended prison sentence, which he would also have to serve.
The judge only took the man’s personal circumstances more into account. The Emmer-Compascumer does everything he can to get rid of his drug addiction and has his life well on track. The judge extended the probationary period of the outstanding sentence, so that the man does not have to serve that week. The driving ban is 22 months, but completely conditional. The fine was reduced to 500 euros. The rest corresponds to the prosecutor’s demand.