According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), a 54-year-old man from Nieuweroord who caused a fatal accident with an agricultural tractor on 22 July 2020, drove onto the road ‘virtually blind’.
That said the public prosecutor today in the court of Assen. She demanded 180 hours of community service and a one-year suspended driving license for the New Order.
The drama happened just before half past one in the afternoon. The man from Nieuweroord was driving a tractor for a client that day. During his work, he wanted to enter the carriageway from the arable land via a country road. There he collided with a motorcyclist, a 53-year-old man from Bruntinge. He rode on his motorcycle on the Westerhaarweg in Wijster and could no longer avoid the tractor. He was instant dead.
According to the Nieuweroorder, the exit from the arable land was a difficult one, he told the judges at the hearing. The view near the exit was hampered by trees and shrubs. Visibility improved slightly just before turning onto the road. Part of the front loader was already on the road when the motorcyclist arrived. Despite the tractor driver still braking, he was unable to do anything for the victim.
After the tragic accident, he immediately called 112 and tried to resuscitate the victim. Assistance, including a trauma helicopter, was deployed, but assistance was no longer of any use. “It was wrong, you could see that,” said the tractor driver at the seat. An investigation showed, among other things, that the forks of the tractor hung almost a meter above the road when driving out.
According to the officer, he could have reversed the tractor and taken the exit on the other side of the lot. He could also have called in a traffic controller to guide him safely onto the road. But he didn’t.
According to the officer, the man drove ‘remarkably careless’, resulting in death. “He drove almost blind on the road,” she said. In addition to community service, no unconditional driving ban was demanded. The man cannot miss his driver’s license because of his home situation, the officer said.
A few months after the drama, De Nieuweroorder contacted the relatives of the victim. He spoke about it emotionally at the hearing. The next of kin were not present today, nor did they file a claim for compensation.
De Nieuweroorder no longer works in the agricultural sector. He deliberately chose that. The man has since found another job.
Verdict in two weeks.