German FAZ: Trial due to fatal accident on A66007715

At first it looked like a typical speeding accident: On a Saturday morning in October 2020, three sports car drivers were driving on Autobahn 66 towards Frankfurt. They overtake each other at high speeds, sometimes passing other cars in the right lane. Until suddenly one of the cars, a green Lamborghini, skids and crashes into a white Skoda. Both cars catch fire and the 71-year-old Skoda driver dies. All of this is well documented because the sports car drivers filmed themselves. The recordings quickly find their way onto the Internet and into reports – and it doesn’t take long before the drivers are found. There are then loud calls for harsh punishments, including from politicians. An Opel driver’s mistake led to an accident. Four days later, it turns out that the case is more complex. That not one of the sports car drivers lost control of their car and thereby caused the fatal accident. But that an error by a fourth driver was the cause: A video from the passenger of the white Lamborghini shows how an Opel pulls into the left lane without signaling and hits the green Lamborghini. The public prosecutor then withdraws the murder charge against the three men. But on the Instagram account of one of the men, the hate is still being expressed in the comments to this day. Because of their driving style, many consider him and the other two sports car drivers to be the actual culprits. From this Wednesday onwards, two of the men will be standing before the Frankfurt regional court: 38-year-old Ramsy A., driver of the white Lamborghini, and Tim G., 30 years old old and driver of the blue Porsche. The driver of the green Lamborghini was originally also charged in the case. He is Navid F., who, according to the court, is currently in Iran. The start of the trial had to be postponed at the end of August because F. had not received a visa by then. As the presiding judge announced on Wednesday, F. has been on sick leave for a long time and cannot take the flight. The case against him is now being separated. Instead of murder, Ramsy A. and Tim G. now have to answer for taking part in a banned car race. In the case of A. there is also the more serious accusation of car racing resulting in death. According to the prosecution’s descriptions, A. played a central role in the course of events: his “high-risk driving behavior” is said to have motivated the other two drivers to also take “extreme risks”. Waving motion as a momentous starting signal. In addition, the prosecutors are convinced that A. also gave the starting signal for the race. The public prosecutor’s office bases this on a scene from a video recording that is also shown in court: You can see Ramsy A. and Navid F. driving next to each other. Then A. looks over, laughs and raises his hand in a kind of waving motion. According to the public prosecutor, he indirectly caused the death of the Skoda driver and acted grossly carelessly because he knew how dangerous his driving behavior was. But this should now also apply to Tim G., according to the public prosecutor’s representative. He is requesting a legal notice from the chamber that G. can also be considered to have caused death. In addition, both are charged with leaving the scene of the accident. Tim G. turned himself in to the police the next day, but Ramsy A. remained in hiding. The police searched for him for months, and in May 2021 he was finally arrested in a parking lot in North Rhine-Westphalia. Both defendants have so far remained silent about the allegations. During a break, Ramsy A.’s defense attorney told the media representatives that they still wanted to comment and did not deny taking part in a car race. But he also makes it clear that the Opel driver’s mistake plays a central role for him.More on the topicThis person involved, a 59-year-old pastor from Hesse at the time, had to appear before the Höchst district court in May for negligent homicide liable for negligent bodily harm. In the trial, the judge said that the defendant’s mistake was the cause of the woman’s death. However, the behavior of the Lamborghini driver had a significant impact on how this accident ended. The public prosecutor’s office was also of this opinion: the defendant’s “contribution to the cause” was relatively small compared to the fact that the Lamborghini driver was driving so fast in heavy traffic. The man was ultimately sentenced to a suspended fine. The defendant also had to pay a fine of 5,000 euros to a charitable organization.
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