In March 2019, two cars drove over the Köhlbrand Bridge in Hamburg at a significantly increased speed. A car skidded – the passenger died in the subsequent accident. The driver of that car will now be convicted, the driver of the other will be acquitted.
In the trial of a fatal car race over Hamburg’s Köhlbrandbrücke, the district court of Harburg acquitted one of the two accused. The court sentenced the other driver to a fine of 120 daily rates of 60 euros each for negligent homicide.
According to the conviction of the lay judge, it could not be determined with certainty that the drive between the two cars in the late evening of March 25, 2019 was actually an illegal motor vehicle race. Whether there was an agreement to test strength at the highest possible speed remained open, said the presiding judge Felix Lautenschlager.
According to the indictment, the two accused, aged 25 and 29, are said to have driven at 70 to 100 kilometers per hour on Finkenwerder Straße to the Köhlbrand Bridge, with distances of only 1.5 to 2 meters. On the bridge, the 25-year-old then skidded in his car at 138 to 164 kilometers per hour and collided with a truck. His older brother in the passenger seat suffered fatal injuries. The maximum speed allowed on the bridge is 60 km/h.
With the verdict, the court complied with the demands of the defense attorneys. The public prosecutor’s office had applied for eight months’ probation for the 25-year-old, and for the 29-year-old a fine of 40 daily rates of 60 euros each. Both defendants’ cars and driver’s licenses were to be confiscated. After the verdict was announced, which is not yet final, the judge handed over the confiscated driver’s licenses to the two accused.