Accident victim must abandon apprenticeship Car driver fatally injures motorcyclist - and wants acquittal
Three years ago, a young motorcyclist was critically injured in a serious accident in Aargau. Now the verdict against the car driver for his risky maneuver has been confirmed by the high court.
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- In 2021, a car driver overlooked a motorcyclist when turning and caused a serious accident.
- The young man on the motorcycle was critically injured and had to abandon his apprenticeship.
- The car driver failed in his appeal before the Aargau High Court and was sentenced to a conditional fine.
The accident occurred three years ago on Monday, July 12, 2021, on Steinbruchstrasse in Rüfenach in the canton of Aargau. At a junction, a driver wanted to turn left in his car. He crossed the safety line into the oncoming lane without paying sufficient attention to the traffic.
The oncoming motorcyclist, a 19-year-old apprentice, was not or only poorly visible to the car driver. A collision occurred in which the motorcyclist was hit head-on by the right-hand side of the car and thrown away. In the process, he came under a following car, which was also turning, and was partially run over by it.
The young man suffered life-threatening injuries in the accident. In addition to bruises to his lungs and air pockets in his chest, he also suffered several serious fractures to his torso, left arm, right leg and foot. A rescue helicopter flew him to hospital in a life-threatening condition, according to the Aargau cantonal police. Due to the severity of his injuries, the accident victim was unable to continue his apprenticeship as a car painter, according to theAargauer Zeitungnewspaper.
Appeal rejected, driver sentenced to a fine
In September 2023, the driver was found guilty of negligent grievous bodily harm by the Brugg District Court. He received a conditional fine of CHF 12,000 and a fine of CHF 2,400. In addition, he had to pay the legal costs of over CHF 12,000.
The convicted man lodged an appeal and requested an acquittal. The defense questioned the expert opinion that had calculated the speed of the motorcycle at the time of the accident, according to which the motorcyclist had been travelling at around 94 km/h. The car driver demanded a second expert opinion. The car driver demanded a second expert opinion.
The High Court dismissed the appeal. Even if the motorcyclist had been traveling at a lower speed, the accident would hardly have been avoidable due to the local conditions, according to the court. However, the car driver could have stopped his turning maneuver and should have done so in order to prevent the accident.
