Swerved to avoid a pothole and killed a motorcyclist: driver is in prison and still doesn't understand why

Four years ago, on a battered road near Adamov in the Blansko district, driver Jiří Luňáček swerved to avoid an oncoming car and hit a pothole nearly 20 centimetres deep. Trying to steer back into his lane, he crossed into the opposite lane just as a young motorcyclist was passing. The collision was fatal — the 16-year-old died in hospital a few hours later.

Now 47, Luňáček, who used to earn his living as a carpenter, has already spent two months behind bars. The Brno-venkov District Court sentenced him to 20 months in prison with no possibility of parole and ordered him to pay the victims a total of roughly 1.5 million crowns in damages. The regional court later upheld the verdict.

A dispute over the expert report

Defence lawyer David Obenrauch insists that the key forensic report that shaped the ruling was drawn up only after the road had already been repaired — meaning it didn't reflect the actual condition of the surface at the time of the crash. According to him, the court effectively made its decision "from behind a desk," without ever conducting an on-site reconstruction of the accident.

The prosecution and the court, however, see it differently: the accident site was straight and had good visibility, with no dangerous bends, meaning the driver had plenty of time to prepare for safely passing the oncoming car. As stated in the verdict, it was the driver's abrupt and overly hasty attempt to steer back onto the asphalt that proved fatal.

Road safety expert Roman Budský, former head of BESIP, who is familiar with the case file, backs this reasoning: the driver had been travelling along the damaged stretch long enough to know its condition, and should have slowed down gradually rather than yanking the wheel sharply back onto the tarmac.

Luňáček himself insists he made the decision in a split second and acted purely on reflex. His driving record, however, included 17 offences — ranging from talking on the phone while driving to driving without a licence and without a valid roadworthiness inspection. The car involved in the crash also lacked a current technical inspection.

Hopes pinned on the Supreme Court

His lawyer has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, citing a similar case: a truck driver convicted by the same judge, Michaela Jaňočková of the Brno-venkov District Court, for fatally hitting a pedestrian on a crossing, recently had his sentence suspended by a Supreme Court ruling. That man had received a two-year sentence and had already spent more than two months behind bars before being allowed to return home.

According to judicial statistics, only about 5% of people convicted of causing death by negligence in a traffic accident actually serve real prison time — usually only when the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Neither of the two cases described here involved intoxication.

Asked about these statistics, Judge Jaňočková said that sentencing is "work done with apothecary scales," requiring an individual assessment of each case, and that she does not consider it fair when those responsible for accidents with tragic consequences get away with excessively lenient suspended sentences.

Meanwhile, the number of traffic-accident cases reaching the Supreme Court keeps growing: Prosecutor General Lenka Bradáčová has also recently turned to the court — but with the opposite request, demanding a harsher sentence for a businessman whose prosecution for a fatal drink-driving accident (with a blood alcohol level over 1.6 per mille) had been discontinued.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz