Just outside the built-up area of Berg en Dal, a 21-year-old man from Nijmegen was driving at a speed of 142 km/h on June 25, 2023, where 60 km/h is allowed. Despite warnings from cyclists urging the driver to calm down, he continued at this speed toward the intersection with Meerwijkselaan, where he was required to yield but crashed through.
The vehicle collided hard with another car. Unfortunately, not only was the material damage enormous: the passenger of the Nijmegen man lost his life, and the person sitting in the back lost an arm. In the car that was hit, there were two people, both were injured, one occupant even seriously injured.
No skid marks were found at the crime scene, and witnesses did not hear any braking sounds.
The Public Prosecution Service demands today in court in Arnhem a prison sentence of five years and a ban on driving for eight years against the driver. He is suspected of one manslaughter and three attempts thereof. “Let me be clear: when you drive a passenger car at these insane speeds, there is a significant chance that if you hit a person, they will die,” states the Public Prosecution Service today during the justification of the penalty demand. “It cannot be otherwise than that the suspect was aware of this. He was the one who had his foot on the gas pedal. He accepted the considerable chance that this could be the consequences of his actions.”
That the suspect thinks that traffic rules do not apply to him is evidenced, according to the Public Prosecution Service, by his behavior leading up to the fatal day in June. Before he even obtained his drivers license, he had been caught multiple times driving without a license. Once in possession of it, he has been punished on various occasions for speeding, endangerment, and ignoring a stop signal. The public prosecutor: “I do not use the term lightly, but the suspect is simply what we call a traffic nuisance. Who manages to build such a record while having their drivers license for less than a year and a half? Officers from Nijmegen and Arnhem know him by name because he is on a very short list of notorious offenders.”
While the victims struggle with the trauma and consequences of the accident, the suspect is driving around again about three months later, now again without a license. The Public Prosecution Service: “He clearly does not care at all and still thinks that the rules do not apply to him. I hold that very seriously against the suspect. He has learned nothing from what happened.”