A 24-year-old man has been given 240 hours of community service by the court in Den Bosch because he hit two cyclists in his hometown of Eindhoven at the end of July 2022. The victims, a woman and a man of 30, were seriously injured. After the collision on Mecklenburgstraat, the driver continued to drive very fast and only reported to the police a day and a half later. The judge blamed the Eindhoven resident for leaving the victims helpless.
In addition to the community service, the judge ruled that the man should not be behind the wheel for six months. If he commits another crime in the next two years, he will face a prison sentence of six months and a driving ban of six months. The public prosecutor had demanded, among other things, a prison sentence of nine months.
Very careless and driving too fast
According to the judge, the Eindhove resident was guilty of very careless driving on July 30, 2022. That night around half past four, the man drove too fast on Mecklenburgstraat, where the speed limit is 50 kilometers per hour.
While attempting to overtake a woman and a man on bicycles, he hit them hard from behind. The victims crashed their bicycles into two parked passenger cars and then flew through the air. They suffered several fractures, bruises and a concussion. Both still suffer from it, both physically and mentally.
Escaped
The driver continued to drive after the collision, even at a higher speed than before the collision (110 kilometers per hour through built-up areas). He also ended up on the wrong side of the road. There he crashed into a traffic island and eventually came to a stop against a lamppost. The driver was injured, but he managed to get out of his badly damaged car and run away. More than 40 hours after the accident, he reported to the police.
‘No memory whatsoever’
The court states that it is ‘unfortunate that the suspect says he has no memory of what happened, but that he does remember that after the accident he walked to a friend’s house in Tongelre and stayed there.’ According to the judge, this attitude must be difficult for the victims to digest.
The victims were in poor condition after the collision: