Rail accident in Lower Austria: the process ends with a detour – Austria

After a train accident with 18 people injured in Wieselburg (Scheibbs district) in October 2016, the negligent bodily injury and negligent public danger process against a 55-year-old changer ended Monday with a diversion. The man has to pay 2,900 euros, then the process is closed. Previously, he had been held responsible for what happened.

On October 19, 2016, the accused was working as a changer at Randegg train station (Scheibbs district). It is said to have triggered the fact that a group of wagons, consisting of a crew car and four freight cars, had detached and covered the approximately 20-kilometer route to Wieselburg in an uncontrolled manner. When the abandoned carriages collided with a regional train traveling from St. Pölten to Scheibbs, four people suffered serious injuries and 14 minor injuries.

The prosecution assumed that the 55-year-old man violated due diligence during a coupling process. It is also said that the defendant had not sufficiently insured a group of cars. The man is said to have failed to open the brake shutoff valve and ultimately did not check the brake pads. However, on the first day of the trial, the defendant declared that he had behaved correctly.

After the postponement of October 15, 2018, information was obtained on voice recordings and a previously missing overview of maintenance orders for one car. However, there was no indication of a technical defect.

On the second day of the trial Monday, the world looked different to the 55-year-old. Unlike in 2018, he took responsibility for what happened. Also “for economic considerations of process”, as expressed by his lawyer. Because: “The costs of the process are skyrocketing.” The lawyer explained that 25,000 euros were estimated for the planned reconstruction of the crime. In addition, the long duration of the process goes to the kidneys of his client: “The defendant says that he can no longer bear it mentally.” The lawyer also claimed that the service regulations had changed due to the accident and that the 55-year-old could no longer proceed in this way today.

“You are not a machine, you made a mistake that affected a large number of people,” said the sole judge. There was no premeditation or alcoholism. In addition, the 55-year-old man had “good behavior for a long time”, the judge had justified the diversion offer, with which the prosecutor and the defense attorney agreed.