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Speeding motorist who killed cyclist in Brussels walks free on appeal

09:07 08/06/2023

A speeding motorist who struck and killed a cyclist on a zebra crossing on Avenue Albert in Forest has been acquitted on appeal.

The young driver had been charged with involuntary manslaughter, Bruzz reports, after killing cyclist Iwona Wróblewska.

According to the court, a link between the death of the cyclist and the speed of the motorist was not clear.

30-year-old Wróblewska was hit on 20 February 2021 near the Berkendael tram stop. After being taken to the hospital, she died of her injuries.

The accident caused a stir among the cycling community and residents of the area, as people had long been pleading for safety improvements to the intersection that became the site of the deadly accident.

After Wróblewska was killed, the speed limit was reduced from 50 to 30 km/h.

The 21-year-old driver who was driving over the speed limit through the intersection and caused the fatal accident was initially handed a three-month suspended prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter, but successfully appealed.

“The accident was unavoidable even if the defendant would have been driving at 50 kilometres per hour,” the judge stated, saying that because the cyclist was riding their bike on the pedestrian crossing at a speed of around 10 kilometres per hour, the defendant would not have had time to brake even had they been obeying the speed limit.

While the driver who killed the cyclist will not serve any prison time or face judicial consequences as a result of the appeal, she will lose her licence for six months and must retake her driving exams before being allowed back on the road.

Written by Helen Lyons

Comments

Anon3

Wow!! What incredible "reasoning" by the judge. The victim is named. Do the judge and the speeding motorist also have names? So if a person is speeding and driving without paying attention and hits someone without even trying to brake and kills them (even on a pedestrian crossing!!), that dangerous driver will be let off because the car's speed meant killing them was unavoidable anyway?? Mind-boggling.

Jun 8, 2023 12:55