A resident of Steenwijk has been demanded of two years in prison because he thought that a predecessor was driving quite slowly in the driveway of the highway. It was reason for him to ram the man off the road.
The incident took place on 24 May 2020 on a slip road of the A32 motorway. Suspect Marco de R. from Steenwijk decided to force his predecessor to stop in order to admonish him on the hard shoulder of the highway. That led to a crash, in which both vehicles involved were damaged and the dogs of the predecessor flew through the car, but no one was injured.
Almost two years later, the 32-year-old who caused the accident has come to the realization that he was completely wrong from the start. He said that to the court in Zwolle, where he had to appear for attempted manslaughter or aggravated assault. During the police interrogation shortly after the accident, he still blamed his opponent, as was the case with the probation service at the beginning of this year.
Cornered
It started with De R. wanting to overtake his predecessor in the driveway on the right via the hard shoulder. The latter week out a bit, also to the right, which put the Steenwijker in a tight spot. Once on the highway, the exasperated car driver drove in front of the other, according to witnesses, where he kept hitting the brakes. The vehicle behind came into contact with De R.’s car, which skidded as a result and ended up against the guard rail of the central reservation.
That was not the end of it: the crashed driver turned his car in the right direction, followed the other and stopped it via what he called a PIT maneuver. One of the judges knew that term from American police series. It is a technique used by the police to force fleeing cars to a stop, with minimal risks. The target car is tapped on the left rear side.
Cluster headaches
This also happened here, after which the fellow road user lost control of the vehicle, started spinning and came to a standstill in the shoulder, transverse to the hard shoulder. In his own words, De Steenwijker wanted to ‘address fellow road users about his behaviour’ and said something like: ,,With such a driving style, there is a chance that you will end up between six planks”, which came across as threatening. Another road user then intervened to calm things down.
De R. attributes his behavior that day to a combination of factors. He has ADHD, periods of poor sleep, and cluster headaches, which require him to carry an oxygen tank with him at all times. Sometimes he has a short fuse, which means he has been in contact with the police more than once in the past. ,,I am impulsive, then I have no control over myself.” A training aggression and emotion regulation, as proposed by the probation service, also seems useful to him.
Attempted aggravated assault
It had been quiet for the last eight years. The man is a driving enthusiast, but can forget that for the time being: he has not yet received his driver’s license since the accident, he was unable to pay for a course of 400 euros from the Central Bureau for Driving Skills. The public prosecutor found an attempt at serious assault proved and pointed out the danger to other road users. She demanded two years in prison, of which one year is conditional, with the obligation that the hot-tempered Steenwijker will do something about his own behavior. She also demanded a two-year driving ban.
His lawyer argued that there was only ‘causing a danger on the road’, and considered a suspended prison sentence sufficient. The court will rule in two weeks.
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