A young driver drove the Flixbus hundreds of times from Prague via Carinthia to Trieste. But in the morning hours of September 19 last year, he was unable to concentrate and his eyes were closed – these “microsleep events” left one young person dead and dozens of passengers injured near Micheldorf.
“I’m terribly sorry,” the 27-year-old, who has worked as a bus driver for five years, said during the trial at the Klagenfurt Regional Court. Currently only in Prague city transport; after what happened, he won’t get on a long-distance bus again. And what exactly happened on the B317 near Micheldorf in Carinthia?
Expert Marianne Kraut analyzed the accident in detail – using traces, drone flights and, above all, more than 100 (!) video fragments from the dashcam that Flix buses have on board. “The camera shows the driver and also the view of the street,” explains judge expert Michaela Sanin. Short clips show the bus was already “out of bounds,” over the guidelines and into the oncoming lane.
“He drove in winding lines,” reports a driver who drove behind the bus. The reason for this was neither alcoholism nor excessive demands; the driver was a professional and had previously had a long break. “But it was over-tired,” said DI Kraut. “Professional drivers and frequent drivers manage to ignore them longer and even learn to keep their eyes open even if they fall asleep. You are actually driving the vehicle in your sleep, but of course you can no longer react.”
In this case it involved a bend on the highway. The bus drove straight ahead and crashed into a wall at 100 kilometers per hour, slid 40 meters along the road and then overturned in the ditch in the meadow. The 50 passengers from all over the world – from Upper Austria to Mexico and New Zealand – were largely injured, many seriously. A 19-year-old woman from Upper Austria was thrown from the wreckage; all help came too late for her.
Yet the family of the deceased young woman shows compassion for the bus driver, her lawyer emphasizes: “It is important for her that she does not want to burden the suspect financially; Parents and siblings know he is having a hard time too.”
Two-year suspended prison sentence
This is also taken into account in the verdict for murder by gross negligence: two years’ imprisonment, fully conditional. Judge Sanin: “It was so-called micro-sleep events that caused the accident. A suspended sentence seems appropriate to me.”
Everyone else thinks so too – the defendant accepts it, as does prosecutor Lisa Kuschinsky. This means that the criminal proceedings surrounding Micheldorf’s accident have been legally resolved and that negotiations over insurance benefits for the many victims have begun.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
