Because of a fatal accident, the Austrian snowboard Olympic champion Benjamin Karl was sentenced to a three-month suspended sentence at the Zell am See district court on Friday. The 36-year-old crashed his car into an oncoming car near Mittersill (Pinzgau) on June 30, 2021. Its 70-year-old driver died and his 69-year-old wife was seriously injured.
Karl had been accused of negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm. The native of Lower Austria makes a remorseful confession in court. “I’m terribly sorry about what happened,” he says. “Unfortunately, I can’t undo it. My thoughts are always with the bereaved.”
Over the speed limit
On the day of the accident, Karl, who lives in East Tyrol, was on his way home from a training session. According to the Salzburg public prosecutor, he is said to have driven too fast through a gallery at a speed limit of 80 km/h. When exiting, the roadway was covered with hail. Karl’s car skidded, slid into the oncoming lane and crashed into the car of a couple from Pinzgau.
According to the accident expert Gerhard Kronreif, Karl was probably traveling at 100 to 110 km/h before he tried to brake. According to Kronreif, the accident could have been avoided at a maximum speed of 80 km/h.
The driver of the oncoming car could not have prevented the accident. The wife of the deceased told the court that they were just on their way home from vacation. When heavy hail suddenly fell, they waited for it in a parking lot and then drove on at around 30 km/h behind the car of a couple they were friends with. Suddenly a car came towards them from the gallery – according to the driver friend, “at a tremendous speed”.
Benjamin Karl admitted in court that he had driven too fast. When he noticed oncoming traffic, he actively braked and wanted to steer his car into the embankment. But the Audi could no longer be maneuvered because of the hail, said Karl’s defender Oscar Weiß.
compensation paid
The judge mitigated the verdict by Karl’s remorseful confession, his irreproachable character and the fact that a total of 19,500 euros in compensation for pain and suffering was paid to the widow and that the athlete had sought contact with the victim’s family after the accident. The judgment is not final.
Source: Nachrichten
