A grieving man who broke the speed limit while driving his bleeding wife to hospital before their unborn baby passed away was fined and given a driving ban by the council
A man who desperately drove his pregnant, bleeding wife to hospital before the couple’s unborn baby tragically died was fined and given a driving ban for speeding.
The 29-year-old from Germany, who is yet to be named by the press, hit speeds of around 60mph on route to the emergency room, after his heavily pregnant wife began profusely bleeding following some complications.
While the mother thankfully survived, the couple’s unborn child sadly passed away despite the desperate driver’s dash to the hospital. And if the pair’s grief was not enough, the city of Gelsenkirchen handed the man a €400 fine and a one-month driving ban. The man, according to reports, was stunned by the penalty, and immediately launched an appeal, according to German news outlet BILD.
However, the seemingly unflinching council stood by their decision despite the emergency situation, saying: “Your statement was carefully examined, however, the facts presented were insufficient to exonerate you and justify the discontinuation of the proceedings.”
To add insult to injury, the bloke was also hit with an extra charge of €28.50 in fees.
The man was forced to dispute the decision in court.
A Gelsenkirchen District Court heard how the man had been offered an ambulance and an emergency physician, however due to the length of of time this was predicted to take, he made the decision to make his own way to the hospital at around 1:30.
Explaining this, the man’s lawyer Jens Tuschhoff said: Since an ambulance was not available in a timely manner, my client decided to drive his wife himself.”
Thankfully, the judge presding over the case showed a touch more compassion than the traffic enforcement office had.
A spoke-person for the court representative said: “The proceedings were discontinued with the consent of the public prosecutor’s office pursuant to Section 47 of the Administrative Offenses Act.”
“This provision stipulates that proceedings can be discontinued at the discretion of the authorities if “punishment does not appear warranted.”
The man’s lawyer commented: “The city could have refrained from issuing the fine on this basis as well. We are pleased that the court has corrected this heartless decision.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.