Facts
On 28 July 1989, the defendant, M., was driving a vehicle on the access road to the S. body shop in the direction of Sins. He turned left onto the main Auw-Sins road, where he collided with a motorcyclist, H., who was traveling at a speed of 125 to 145 km/h. The defendant was convicted of negligent homicide and appealed to the RTA.
The facts were established by the lower instances, which found that the defendant had slowed down when approaching the intersection, but had not sufficiently checked the traffic coming from the right. The motorcyclist was killed in the accident.
The defendant argued that the court of appeal had violated the principle of trust by reproaching him for not checking the traffic over a distance of 550 meters, when visibility was reduced due to the presence of another vehicle.
Considerations
The RTA examined the question of whether the defendant had violated the principle of trust by not sufficiently checking the traffic coming from the right before turning left. The court recalled that the principle of trust is a fundamental principle of road traffic law, which allows road users to rely on other users behaving in a regulatory manner.
The court considered that the defendant had the right to rely on other road users behaving in a regulatory manner, but that he must also take precautions to avoid accidents. The court estimated that the defendant had not violated the principle of trust by not checking the traffic over a distance of 550 meters, as there was no reason to believe that the motorcyclist would…