19-Year-Old Drug Driver Sentenced to Prison After Crash with City Bus
The chase ended with him crashing his brother's car into an almost empty city bus. Both the driver and his passenger sustained serious injuries. The fact that the young man was even able to stand trial bordered on a miracle: he had suffered such severe head injuries in the accident that only organ donation was planned at the hospital.
19-Year-Old Drug Driver Cannot Remember Chase
Physically, he has since largely recovered, but the 19-year-old only has a patchy memory of the crash and the weeks before. "I can't remember anything, nothing at all," he insisted during his trial. However, it was credibly conveyed to him what had happened that day - in addition, the police had also recorded the chase on video. Accordingly, the defendant pleaded fully guilty.
Since the 19-year-old could not provide any conclusive information about the incident and his brother refused to testify, only the young passenger could be questioned about the course of events. The woman, who lives in Graz, stated that she had spontaneously come to Vienna with a friend because the acquaintance had met a friend of the defendant via social media. In Vienna, they were initially traveling in groups of four, but on the night of the accident, she was alone with the 19-year-old.
"He Asked If He Should Drive Away"
Around 4:00 a.m., he smoked a joint in the car with the window open, which caught the attention of a police patrol. "He asked me if he should stop or drive away?" the witness said. Without waiting for an answer, the then 18-year-old, who never had a driver's license, decided to speed off. After a reckless chase, during which he ran several red lights, he ultimately turned the wrong way into a one-way street and crashed at high speed into the side of a city bus.
The defendant, who despite his young age had already been convicted multiple times for drug offenses, insisted that he has become a new person since the accident. "I was completely disabled," he admitted during his interrogation. After completing his therapy, he also has the opportunity to start working in a restaurant. He no longer takes drugs either.
Prison Sentence for 19-Year-Old Drug Driver Final
Since he accepted the risk of seriously endangering other road users during the chase, his passenger suffered a spinal fracture, and several suspended sentences against the defendant were still pending, the trial resulted in an unconditional prison sentence of ten months for the 19-year-old. After a brief consultation, the defendant accepted the verdict. The prosecution also had no objections, making the verdict final.
(APA/Red)
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