The woman responsible for yesterday’s fatal accident in Buiucani had a record of 43 moving violations and was held criminally accountable in four instances, acting Police Chief Gheorghe Balan told a news conference today.
The moving violations ran the gamut from driving unbuckled, to reckless driving, to driving under the influence. In 2017, Svetlana U. was convicted by a district court to four months suspended after she was caught driving while heavily drunk. A year later, she caused an accident while under the influence and she had to spend six months in prison. In two other criminal cases, her punishment was commuted to administrative fines.
Lab results will be ready tomorrow to show whether the woman had been drinking or otherwise inebriated in this case, too. The woman is now in critical condition, and if she survives, she will face 3 to 7 years in prison for vehicular homicide.
The police confirmed the speedometer read 130kmh at the moment of the impact and promised to soon release CCTV footage capturing the collision.
The Ministry of the Interior pledged to push for harsher penalties for moving violations, as tough as confiscating the vehicle.
In a separate press briefing, Dr. Igor Curov of the Chisinau Emergency Hospital told reporters that the woman underwent surgery and was now in an extremely critical condition, having suffered brain trauma, chest contusion and multiple broken bones, among other injuries. Eight adults remain admitted at the Emergency Hospital, and two children were taken to the specialized V. Ignatenco Hospital.
The accident occurred on October 1 on Alba Iulia Street, in Chisinau’s Buiucani district. The woman, driving a Porsche Cayenne, ran the red light at a high speed and plowed into a trolleybus. As a result, 28 people needed medical attention while a passenger in the car died immediately.
