US Army soldier under fire for a German autobahn crash that killed 3 people
The autobahn. It’s something of a pilgrimage for drivers all over the world for one reason: in certain sections, speed is unrestricted. It’s also, however, the site of pretty nasty crashes from time to time. And with so many US military service members still stationed in Germany, sometimes those crashes involve soldiers and airmen, like this case of a soldier allegedly causing a deadly crash with nine cars.
German prosecutors say a US Army soldier is responsible for a deadly, nine-car autobahn crash near Frankfurt
According to the Stars and Stripes, the US military’s news organization, there’s a sign at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. It’s a US Army sign that displays the amount of time since the last driving fatality. This last weekend, it showed over 2,000 days– by Monday afternoon, it read “1.”
The story behind the radical change boils down to a US Army soldier stationed in Germany, according to local prosecutors. According to reports from the Polizei, the German police, a 25-year-old driver in a Honda hit an Audi while driving on the A3 toward Würzburg.
After the impact with the Honda, the Audi crossed the median and struck two other vehicles traveling in the opposite direction. By the time the smoke had cleared, the Honda’s error had caused up to nine vehicles to crash.
Frankfurt Chief Prosecutor Dominik Mies held that the soldier, not any of the German drivers involved, had caused the crash. Tragically, the circumstances led to the death of three people: the 38-year-old man in the Audi, a 21-year-old woman, and a 20-year-old man.
The US Army’s Criminal Investigative Division (CID) initially declined to comment. However, the crash is reportedly still under investigation.
Needless to say, Germany takes these things pretty seriously. And for good reason. The unrestricted portions of the autobahn allow drivers to hit speeds that would land them in jail in the United States.
But while Germans have to pay almost $3,000 and undergo extensive testing to get their licenses, Americans don’t. Unfortunately, that means young service members with insufficient training and experience on German roads often open up the taps on the autobahn– right next to other motorists.
