Court gives truck driver six years for Apšupe intersection crash

A court in Dobele sentenced a truck driver to six years in prison on Friday for causing a serious crash at the Apšupe intersection, LSM reported. It also banned him from driving for five years.

The Zemgale District Court partly granted compensation claims for moral damages, awarding 30,000 euros to one victim and about 60,000 euros to another. It did not set compensation for the remaining claims. The parties have 10 working days from the date the full judgment becomes available to appeal.

The crash happened at about 6:50 p.m. on February 18 on a road in Jaunbērze parish, Dobele municipality. A truck and a passenger bus collided, injuring the bus driver and five passengers.

Investigators found that the truck driver, a man born in 1990, was driving a Volvo truck and trailer registered in Lithuania. He entered the intersection with the Riga-Liepāja road without stopping at a stop sign and failed to give way to a VDL bus travelling from Riga towards Liepāja.

The bus driver told police he realised a collision was unavoidable when the truck pulled in front of him. He said he could not move into the opposite lane because other vehicles were there and he did not want to risk the passengers’ lives. The bus driver suffered injuries that required both legs to be amputated. One passenger sustained fractures to the upper jaw and temporal bone, as well as other injuries.

A woman travelling behind the truck rushed to help the bus driver after the collision and contacted the Emergency Medical Service.