Negligence is out of the question, he said in court, the driver of the tractor with tanks
The accused driver faces up to ten years in prison. According to the indictment, Koloc caused damage of over 16 million crowns, of which about half concern damaged tanks. The main trial should continue in the summer by questioning witnesses and experts.
“I am convinced that in an instant I did everything in my power to prevent the accident,” Koloc told the court. According to him, it is above all a great disaster, especially for the family of the deceased and the injured.
A tractor with historic American tanks collided with an escort prison bus on May 2, 2019 on the Prague Ring Road at the exit to Reporyje. The truck drove to Pilsen from the Museum of Armored Vehicles in Smržovka in the Jablonec region. Nine convicts and ten members of the Prison Service traveled in the crashed bus.
According to state prosecutor Hana Vrbová, Koloc did not comply with the conditions for the transport of historic tanks. He was transporting the vehicles at a time when he had nothing to do on the highway, the truck was overloaded by about three tons, according to the indictment. According to the applicant, Koloc did not drive the vehicle, so he did not manage to react to the fact that the bus crashed into another car in front of him. After the tractor hit the bus, both cars started to burn.
Koloc said today that the tanks were handled by the museum owner, who told him that the machines offered a set capacity of 60 tons. The defendant pointed out that it was possible that the cargo had been weighed incorrectly after the accident. He also denied the prosecution’s claim that he would not be driving before the accident. “I cannot agree not to drive. I’ve been driving with heavy loads all my life and something like that is out of the question, “said Koloc.
According to Koloc, the prison bus overtook the tractor, blocked its view, and then began to brake. Koloc described that at that moment he realized that there must have been an accident in front of him, and he tried to brake and at the same time turn his car into the barriers. However, the failed failed.
The narrowing also affected, the driver defends
“I think it was a coincidence that there was such an unfortunate traffic situation and an accident. It certainly has the effect of traffic signs in the area, “said Koloc. According to him, the narrowing of the road at the place where the accident occurred also affected the behavior of other drivers, including the bus driver. The defendant also pointed out that another 11 traffic accidents occurred at the same place.
The owner of the museum in Smržovka, Jaroslav Janoušek, said in February that one of the two tanks that the tractor had carried had not yet been repaired. The M36 Jackson tank from 1944 needs refurbishment for more than seven million crowns. Janoušek originally expected to pay the costs from the insurance company, but he did not succeed in asking the insurance company to pay the premium. Janoušek wants to get the money from the insurance company in the court to which he filed a lawsuit.
He also filed another lawsuit for damages against the prison service. “In both cases, we are waiting for the trial to begin,” he said today.