Prague prosecutors: Politician Turek at fault in ambulance crash

The Prague prosecutor's office has confirmed that most of the blame for the crash at I. P. Pavlov Square lies with local politician Turek: he pulled out of a turning lane straight into the intersection in his Mercedes and collided with a Škoda Fabia service car from Na Homolce Hospital, which was carrying platelets for an operation. The case has already been passed on to the district authority for review, said Tomáš Svoboda, head of the Prague 2 district prosecutor's office.

Why the case did not go to court

According to Svoboda, his colleague Kamil Švec, who supervised the investigation, found that Turek met almost all the criteria for the offence of causing bodily harm through negligence. However, the ambulance driver was not injured seriously or for long enough for it to be classified as bodily harm: under established case law, the injured party must require treatment for longer than a week.

Asked by our newsroom whether the greater share of blame lay with the politician, Svoboda replied briefly: “Probably, yes.”

An old injury ruled out a more serious charge

According to Svoboda, the ambulance driver's sick leave was much longer, but this was not due to the crash itself, but to an old injury that was aggravated by the collision without having been caused by it. According to an expert's report, the man suffered a superficial head injury, an abrasion to the back of the head, an abrasion to his left elbow, a bruised left shoulder and a 1.5 cm laceration to his left knee, which had to be stitched. His recovery was further affected by a previously sustained rib fracture that was still healing.

“Given the minimal restriction to his normal way of life, the new injuries from the crash do not, from a forensic medical standpoint, reach the intensity of bodily harm,” police stated.

At the same time, according to the prosecutor's office, Turek met all the other criteria for the offence — above all, breaching an important duty under the road traffic law, which was the actual cause of the crash. Police did not identify this element in their report, which Svoboda called a mistake, thereby confirming information that had previously appeared in the Czech media.

Both drivers committed violations

Police established that both parties to the accident acted carelessly. The ambulance driver entered the intersection, which had limited visibility, at too high a speed. Turek, for his part, failed to adjust his speed to the situation: part of the road was partially closed off with a temporary traffic regime in place, which meant his speed was deemed inappropriate. According to police, Turek wanted to drive straight through from the turning lane — something he himself confirmed to the officer at the scene.

The prosecutor reached the same conclusion when reviewing the case: “His attention was focused on driving straight through the intersection. Combined with all the other circumstances, this caused the collision.”

The hospital's car flipped onto its roof in the impact, and its driver, who is roughly sixty years old, suffered several injuries, including a head injury, and was hospitalised. At the moment of the collision, he was apparently driving with his flashing lights and siren on. The total damage from the crash came to 340,000 crowns. The prosecutor's office has accepted the results of the police investigation.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz