In Nuremberg, a 31-year-old man is said to have fallen victim to a banned car race in the city center. The pedestrian was killed on the sidewalk by a 23-year-old. The driver is now in custody.
Nuremberg (dpa / lby) – In Nuremberg, a 23-year-old driver is said to have killed a pedestrian in an illegal race. An arrest warrant was issued against the 23-year-old on Monday on suspicion of a banned motor vehicle race resulting in death and an escape from an accident.
The man lost control of his vehicle on Sunday night in downtown Nuremberg, drove onto the sidewalk and hit a 31-year-old man there. The pedestrian died on the spot while the driver drove away. On Sunday evening, the 23-year-old turned himself in to the police and was initially taken into police custody. His vehicle, which was damaged in the accident, was seized.
Further investigations then led to the suspicion that the driver had fought a race with a second vehicle. Both cars are said to have driven too fast through the city. The second driver also fled and is still unknown. How fast the vehicles were exactly is not known.
At first, the police only suspected that it could have been an illegal race. “Investigations are going in all directions. First of all, we have to collect all the information,” said a police spokeswoman. The investigators are now also viewing extensive video material that could be connected to the accident. “In addition to clarifying the exact cause of the accident, they hope that this will also provide further information about the second vehicle, which has not yet been identified,” the police reported.
Since autumn 2017 there has been a law against car racing on public roads in Germany. Because of the increasing number of illegal races, the legislature had created a new criminal offense at the time. Until then, the races were only punished as an administrative offense if there were no accidents. Under the new law, if a person dies from the frenzy, they face up to ten years in prison.
