Two men aged 29 and 33 from Noordscheschut and Dwingeloo did indeed hold a street race in Hoogeveen-Zuid, even though they themselves deny it. That is what the court in Assen ruled.
On Saturday afternoon, March 20, 2021, the two drove through Hoogeveen-Zuid at speeds of around 100 kilometers per hour and kept overtaking each other. The 29-year-old man from Noordscheschut eventually hit the back of another car at high speed at the intersection of Boekweitlaan with Magnoliastraat, seriously injuring the driver. The Dwingelder, who was riding behind him at that moment, then took off.
The men did not know each other when they saw each other driving on the A28 near Fluitenberg earlier that afternoon, one in an Audi, the other in a Volkswagen Golf. They caught up with each other a few times and had fun doing it. At the center of Hoogeveen they left the highway and drove into the Hoogeveen-Zuid neighbourhood. According to witnesses, they raced further behind each other there. Camera images also recorded how the two kept overtaking each other and driving too fast.
‘Extremely dangerous’
De Dwingelder (33) called what the two did on the highway “show off a bit” and “act tough”. In Hoogeveen itself, the two had not raced, he said. The man from Noordscheschut said two weeks ago during the court case that he can’t remember it all well. He said of the collision that he accidentally stepped on the gas instead of the brake.
The court does not believe that. The two have caused “an extremely dangerous situation”, which the victim who was hit by a car barely survived, the verdict reads. The then 48-year-old victim suffered brain damage and broken bones and will never be the same again. Both men have been sentenced to the sentences demanded by the Public Prosecution Service: eight months in prison for the youngest of the duo and twelve months (four suspended) for the oldest. In addition, they both received a three-year driving ban, one of which was conditional.
‘Madrid’
According to the court, both drove recklessly and are responsible for the accident, in which a passing cyclist was also injured because he was hit by a piece of the Audi belonging to the man from Noordscheschut. The penalty for the Dwingelder is slightly higher, because he drove away after the accident. He also receives compulsory supervision from the probation service.
“At no time did the suspects consider the danger that their antisocial driving behavior posed for other road users, but were only concerned with each other,” the court said. She calls it not only a miracle that the hit motorist survived the accident, but also that more serious injuries or deaths were not caused by the “mad man’s ride” in broad daylight.