Judge finds clear words Refuse truck runs over senior citizen - driver in court
A 71-year-old woman dies under a refuse truck in Suhr AG. In court, the defense lawyer tries to place part of the blame on the victim and the municipality - but the judge clearly disagrees.
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- A 71-year-old pedestrian died in November 2024 after being run over by a refuse truck.
- The driver was convicted of involuntary manslaughter by the Aarau District Court.
- The judge rejected the defense's argument as an inadmissible victim-offender reversal.
On November 1, 2024, a fatal accident occurred on Bahnhofstrasse in Suhr. A 71-year-old woman was walking directly in front of a stationary refuse truck. As the vehicle approached, she was run over. The woman died at the scene of the accident.
The driver, a 44-year-old man from the canton of Aargau, now had to answer to the Aarau District Court. At the beginning of the trial, he apologized to the victim's relatives. He was very sorry for the woman's death.
Defense attorney sees complicity on the part of the victim and the community
The accused's defense lawyer requested an acquittal, as reported by the "Aargauer Zeitung". He argued that there is a deliberate "confusion" in a meeting zone, which involves a residual risk of accidents. In addition, the municipality had not sufficiently considered the needs of waste collection when planning Bahnhofstrasse.
The lawyer also attributed joint responsibility to the victim. The woman had suddenly walked in front of the vehicle. Although the lorry had mirrors and cameras, the driver could not monitor all angles at the same time. In addition, the vehicle's warning lights were switched on, which is why the pedestrian should have recognized that the truck would soon start moving.
Conditional prison sentence
The court president clearly contradicted this account. He expressly warned against a victim-offender reversal. Although pedestrians also have a certain duty of care, they still have the right of way on the road.
Leiser stated that it should not happen that a pedestrian is not seen when a truck approaches. The case should be considered a negligence offense. Nobody is accusing the driver of intent, but: "Colloquially, you would say: something like this can happen - but it shouldn't."
According to the "Aargauer Zeitung" report, the court sentenced the 44-year-old to a conditional prison sentence of ten months with a probationary period of two years. It thus followed the prosecution's request. The fine originally demanded was reduced from CHF 4,000 to CHF 2,000.
In addition, the convicted person must pay the lawyer's fees and procedural costs. These are significantly higher than the fine, emphasized the court president.
