Facts
Parties: Appellant X. (driver of the truck), Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Lucerne, B. (deceased cyclist)
Courts: District Court Z., Cantonal Court of Lucerne, Federal Supreme Court (6B_164/2016, March 14, 2017)
Facts: On June 29, 2012, X. was driving a truck on Luzernerstrasse in Root. While turning right into Neue Perlenstrasse, he ran over the cyclist B., who was following behind him, who died shortly thereafter. X. was convicted of negligent homicide by the District Court, and the Cantonal Court upheld the verdict.
Main issue: Did X. breach his duty of care by turning and thereby cause the negligent homicide of cyclist B.?
Considerations
The lower court argued that X. had violated Art. 36 para. 1 RTA and Art. 13 para. 1 TRegO by turning with too great a distance from the right edge of the road. This allowed the cyclist to pass on the right, leading to the fatal accident. X. had failed to observe his duty to consider the following traffic and thus committed negligent homicide.
X. disputed this and argued that he had been correctly positioned in his lane and that the cyclist had misjudged the traffic situation. The Federal Supreme Court examined the breach of duty of care and the causality of X.'s conduct pursuant to Art. 117 SCC. It found that while Art. 36 para. 1 RTA requires a certain distance…