Prosecutor: Monster truck driver was speeding, made steering errors

Mario D., the driver of the monster truck involved in the fatal accident in Haaksbergen in September last year, was driving too fast, made steering mistakes and braked too late. And all this in a too small area. Prosecutor Aidan van Veen said this in the court in Almelo on Tuesday, NU reports. D. and foundation Sterevenementen are appearing before the judge for the first time on Tuesday. They're facing charges of manslaughter. The Prosecutor continued that the accident was not caused by a technical failure in the monster truck, as D.'s lawyer claims. "When the truck was tested for the second time at a later time in a different locations, the rear wheels did indeed lock. But at the time of the accident it was not yet so.", he said according to NU. "If the driver had braked earlier and had not been driving to fast, the monster truck would have came to a stop at 25 centimeters from the public. This has been shown by tests." What happened instead is that the monster truck crashed into the audience at a speed of between 20 and 30 kilometers per hour. Three people were killed and nearly 30 others were injured. The Public Prosecutor considers this a "seriously culpable act". The Public Prosecutor finds the foundation Sterevenementen, the organizers of the event, just as guilty. The foundation placed the car wrecks in front of the monster truck for the stunt, and allowed the audience to stand in the direction the truck was driving. They did not even stop to consider the risks. "They did not even open the envelope containing the permit", the prosecutor said. This makes the organizers accountable. The case will continue in court early next year after a number of witnesses have been questioned and a further technical examination of the truck has been done. This extra technical examination is necessary because the D. insists that the truck could not break.