He wanted to go get some eggs with his wife, but that turned into a disaster. When a 78-year-old man from Bergen op Zoom drove away from the store in his hometown where he had just bought eggs almost two years ago, he hit a couple who were cycling there. One of the two, a 57-year-old woman, was so seriously injured in the accident that she died shortly afterwards. The court in Breda considered the case on Thursday.
Things went completely wrong on Fianestraat in Bergen op Zoom on that beautiful day in March. After the man and his wife drove away from the Bogers farm shop, he hit the gate on the side of the exit. According to bystanders, in order to get free from that fence, the driver accelerated and drove away with screeching tires. He himself indicates that after hitting the fence he lost control of his car, a new automatic, and suffered a kind of blackout.
The driver then hit the couple on their bicycles on Fianestraat. One of the two, a 57-year-old woman, was dragged onto the roadside. She was immediately unconscious and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
“I just pushed some pedals,” the man said in a statement. “I do not know anymore. I thought I was braking, but I wasn’t.” His wife indicates that her husband was always a good driver. She does not understand how it could have happened.
Dementia
The man, who is now 80 years old, was unable to attend court due to health reasons, he has dementia. It became clear that the situation still affects him a lot. During the hearing, it turned out that he surrendered his driver’s license because he no longer wants to go on the road.
The public prosecutor therefore wondered what punishment would be appropriate. “The man has already surrendered his driver’s license and you cannot impose community service on him given his health,” he explained.
The officer ultimately did not demand any punishment for the man. He did ask the judge to find the man guilty. After brief consultation, the court agreed: the man was declared guilty, but no punishment was imposed.
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Cyclist (57) dies in collision in Bergen op Zoom