The Municipal Court in Virovitica, Croatia found a 41-year-old priest with a degree from the Catholic Theological Faculty guilty of a criminal offense against traffic safety.
For driving under the influence, he was given a suspended prison sentence of eight months with a term of two years. He was also given a security measure banning him from driving a motor vehicle for two years, which applies to all categories of vehicles, except category B. He also has to pay 322 euros in court costs, it says Podravski list.
On June 21 last year, around 3 p.m., the priest caused a traffic accident on the Podravska highway. He was driving a 650 cc Suzuki motorcycle under the influence of 2.06 parts per thousand of alcohol in his blood. The judgment states that he was absolutely incapable of safe driving due to his intoxication.
Driving from Stari Gradac towards Lausanne, he did not notice that the cars in front of him had stopped, so he hit the rear of a BMW car with the front of his Suzuki. In front of the BMW was a Renault Clio that stopped to let the vehicles from the opposite direction pass, before turning left towards Rogovac.
Due to the force of the impact, the priest was thrown over the BMW onto the rear windshield of the Clio and was seriously injured. Both the driver and the passenger in the BMW were injured, who suffered a sprained neck muscle and a bruised lumbar spine, i.e. a sprained neck muscle and a sprained thoracic spine.
Due to serious physical injuries, the priest was first transported to the General Hospital in Virovitica, and then by helicopter to the Clinical Hospital Center in Osijek, according to Podravski list. It was established that he was driving an unregistered and uninsured motorcycle, while his driver’s license expired, but that part was handled by the misdemeanor department of the competent municipal court.
