2023-10-05 11:06:00
The question was to establish with certainty who was driving the VW Golf at the exact time and place where the radar was located. Was it the owner of the vehicle who put it up for sale? Was he the one doing the testing? Both denied it, passed the buck. One of them, obviously, was driving. But how do you know?
We are in Profondeville, Saturday February 5, 2022, in Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse. Leaving the town in the direction of the village of Lesve, just following the roundregarding, the main road is called rue Gilet Ville. It is a straight line, fifteen hundred meters long.
Leaving Profondeville in the direction of the village of Lesve, the main road is called rue Gilet Ville. It is a straight line, fifteen hundred meters long. ©DR
In order to sell his VW Golf GTI in the best conditions, François contacted an automobile agency in the Namur region. A so-called ‘testing’ contract specified the characteristics of the vehicle, the asking price as well as the commission – ten percent – that the agency reserved. The contract mentioned that the planned test would take place on February 5, 2022 “between 11:00 and 11:30”. The candidate buyer, who was going to test the GTI, came from the Tournai region.
Automobile agency
Rue Gilet Ville, the speed is limited to 70 km/h.
At 11:16 a.m., the Golf GTI was flashed at 125 km/h.
The following week, François, the owner of the Golf, found the pro justitia in his mailbox. Observed at 125 km/h, the speed was ‘corrected’ to 117.5 km/h, more than 45 km/h too fast.
In the response form, François specified that if the vehicle belonged to him, it was not he who was behind the wheel that morning at 11:16 a.m. “I was putting my car up for sale through an automobile agency. We were carrying out a test drive. “The head of the automobile agency will agree to testify.”
Two months later, François was nevertheless summoned by the police department. He maintained his statement, provided the identity of the person who tested the vehicle and specified that he had contacted them to inform them of the fine. According to him once more, the prospective buyer had admitted that he was indeed “the author of this offense”.
From then on, the offenders summoned the person who we recall lives near Tournai.
Found with more than 2g of alcohol in his blood, in his car at 3 a.m., head slumped on the steering wheel: acquitted!
“Disagree “
Had she changed her mind in the meantime? Still, there was no longer any question of admitting anything: “Indeed,” declared the person concerned, “we were testing the car but I didn’t drive it all the time during the test. I only drove it for the last five kilometers before returning to the garage, that is to say more or less five minutes. I cannot say exactly on which part of the road I drove because it is a region that I do not know. I have been a professional truck driver for more than ten years and very respectful with regard to road regulations. I have never had any fine and therefore I know that it is not I’m the one who committed this speeding violation. I don’t agree to pay for something I didn’t do.”
Even reduced to 117.5 km/h, the speeding, on a section limited to 70, was not one that the prosecution would allow. Someone was bound to end up in court, but which one?
Ghost
In the end, it was the owner of the vehicle that the public prosecutor’s office cited before the Namur police court.
To defend him, François, 41, chose the specialist lawyer Christophe Redko.
Master Redko, specialist in rolling matters. ©Bernard Demoulin
Mr. Redko exhibited the probationary contract. He recalled that it specifically mentioned that the test of the Golf GTI took place “between 11:00 and 11:30”.
The reasoning was to consider that under the terms of the contract, it was not up to the owner of the Golf, but to the person carrying out the test to demonstrate that he was not behind the wheel at 11:16.
Bingo! In the judgment, the court decided that the speeding violation was not established by the owner of the vehicle, who was therefore acquitted.
Let’s summarize: the speeding was not questionable and the Golf GTI was not driven by ectoplasm. Someone was holding the steering wheel. Did the owner want to show that it had something under the hood? Did the potential buyer want to check that he was not being sold a sluggish vehicle? Validating Christophe Redko’s reasoning, the Namur police court holds that the trial contract indicating the time slot during which it takes place reverses the burden of proof. A priori, as mentioned in black and white, it was not the owner who was driving between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. It is up to the person who carried out the test to prove the opposite. Afterwards, it is true that there are also some who always get by.
Master Redko is the king of acquitting motorists: “My fastest client was driving at 252 km/h”
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#Golf #GTI #flashed #kmh #acquitted
