Facts
On August 21, 1973, Charles Gremaud was driving on the Lausanne-Geneva highway at a speed of 100 to 130 km/h. Upon reaching the western end of the Aubonne Bridge, he turned on his low beam headlights and then spotted a pedestrian, Mohammed Guidoum, crossing the road. Before Gremaud could react, he struck and killed the pedestrian.
The District Court of Rolle convicted Gremaud of negligent homicide and fined him 1000 francs with a two-year probation period. The Criminal Cassation Court of the Canton of Vaud dismissed Gremaud's appeal against this conviction.
Considerations
The Federal Court dismissed Gremaud's appeal for nullity. It found two faults on his part: a violation of Art. 4 para. 1 of the Ordinance on Road Traffic (OCR) for driving at an excessive speed given the visibility, and a fault of inattention for only spotting the pedestrian at around 20 meters when he should have seen him at least 50 meters away.
The Court held that the general speed regulations apply without restriction on highways and that the speed must be adapted to the possible stopping distance with low beam headlights, which is 50 meters on the left side of the road. By driving at least 100 km/h for 100 meters, Gremaud was unable to stop within that distance.
The Court also ruled that Gremaud had committed an obvious fault of…