By Anne Losensky
There are four traffic lights for car traffic at the pedestrian ford on Landsberger Allee (Marzahn). Everyone was red for at least 23 seconds. So Louisa (11) crossed the street because her traffic light was green. The child did everything right – and still died.
Tiergarten Traffic Court. Accused: Entrepreneur Jürgen H. (61) from a suburb of Berlin. On the late afternoon of April 12, 2022, he drove his Audi A5 (218 hp) into the city past all the waiting cars and over the red lights. At least 65 km/h – 50 were allowed.
Dead speeder Jürgen H. (61) holds a file in front of his face in the courtroom Photo: Olaf Wagner
THE EXCUSE: “In my mind’s eye the traffic light turned green, so I didn’t brake.” At the scene of the accident, the Audi driver vehemently objected when police officers immediately took away his driver’s license.
18 months later he says: “I concede everything, I deserve a punishment. It hurts my soul. I apologize to the parents.” He expects a fine and his driving license back. Louisa was fatally injured in front of her mother (35). “We wanted to go to Eastgate,” she remembers. “Louisa was running in front of me, the car was coming from the right…”
It drove into the child at excessive speed without braking, causing a collision with the left fender. “The traffic lights had been red for an infinitely long time,” says the expert (58). They switched gears when the car was still 433 meters away. The pedestrian ford is in a depression, everything is clearly visible, it was bright and dry.
And someone like that wants his driver’s license back? “We have considerable doubts about his mental fitness to drive a motor vehicle,” say the parents’ lawyers. “He seriously says that in his mind’s eye the red light was green! The child was innocent and defenseless and was treacherously killed.” They are demanding a lifelong ban on their driver’s license, confiscation of the Audi as an instrument of the crime, and a murder trial in the regional court.
THE JUDGMENT. 9 months imprisonment, probation period 3 years (negligent homicide, negligent endangerment of road traffic). The driver’s license remains confiscated. But in 6 months the authorities will be able to issue him a new driving license again.
Father Julian Herwig (34, economics lecturer): “The verdict is a slap in the face. If we send such signals to society, no one will stick to red lights anymore!” He demanded compensation from the entrepreneur before the trial. Louisa is his “life’s work”, now he is demanding his “life’s achievement of the last eleven years”, one million euros – plus the bank details…