Liability of the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident on the motorway

Facts

On 24 April 1970, Claude Saint-Jacques-Laraque was driving his Volvo on the motorway when he lost control of his vehicle and hit the central barrier twice. Although his vehicle was encroaching by at least 1 metre into the overtaking lane, Saint-Jacques-Laraque did not ensure that a breakdown signal was properly placed. A few minutes later, two other accidents occurred, involving other vehicles, and resulted in the death of a driver. Saint-Jacques-Laraque and other involved drivers were convicted by the Nyon District Court for serious violation of traffic rules and negligent homicide.

Considerations

The Federal Court dismissed Saint-Jacques-Laraque's appeal. It considered that the first sentence of Art. 23 para. 2 TRegO, which requires the use of the breakdown signal when other road users might not notice the immobilized vehicle in time, has a general scope. Thus, the distance of 100 m mentioned in the second sentence of this article is insufficient in the case of a high-speed road such as the motorway, where the authorized speeds are high.

Furthermore, the Court held that Saint-Jacques-Laraque also violated Art. 51 para. 1 RTA by not doing…