An 83-year-old woman was fatally struck by a motorist in Manosque (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) on October 9, 2020. The driver had then fled.
He was sentenced at the end of last week to an eighteen-month suspended prison sentence and an 18-month license suspension.
During his hearing at the Digne-les-Bains criminal court, the 42-year-old man said he had not seen the victim.
He was reportedly distracted by his two daughters, aged 10 and 5, located in the back of the vehicle.
Shocked by the accident, he explained, according to
Le Dauphiné Libéré,
having "seen cars stop in the mirrors.
My daughters were panicked, I decided to take them to my parents'.
The hit and run not retained
The forties then went to the gendarmerie to answer for his act.
The investigation proved that this father was not alcoholic, nor under the influence of narcotics at the time of the facts.
On the other hand, the father had already been fined 25 for speeding in the past.
"Even if this behavior is morally objectionable, the court did not accept the hit-and-run and only manslaughter by inattention" explained the president of the correctional hearing at the wording of the judgment.
Another hearing will have to determine the damages claimed by the relatives of the victim.
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Court
Accident
Trial