VP of EU parliament charged over crash death
A vice president of the European Parliament has been charged with causing death through negligence following a car crash last year, a spokesman from a Cologne court confirmed on Thursday.
Alexander Alvaro from Germany’s Free Democrats (FDP) was driving between Bursheid and Leverkusen on Autobahn 1 and crashed into an Opel Vectra stranded in the middle of the lane.
The crash killed the 21-year-old driver on the scene and seriously injured two passengers, aged 15 and 16.
The 38-year-old politician was driving the Audi A8 at 180 km/h in the 110 km/h zone, Bild newspaper reported, at 10.25pm on February 22nd.
According to the prosecuting attorney, Alvaro was driving with excessive speed.
He was taken to hospital in a critical condition and remained in a coma for several weeks.
Alvaro returned to work in the EU parliament after his recovery, but last June MEPs voted to strip him of his immunity.
In October 2013 Alvaro said on Twitter that he would leave the parliament when his term came to an end.
He wrote: “Ten great years in the EP. Had fantastic experiences and have learned a lot. Now time to seek new challenges after this term. Goodbye #EP.”
His sentence for the charge could be up to five years.
Comments
See Also
Alexander Alvaro from Germany’s Free Democrats (FDP) was driving between Bursheid and Leverkusen on Autobahn 1 and crashed into an Opel Vectra stranded in the middle of the lane.
The crash killed the 21-year-old driver on the scene and seriously injured two passengers, aged 15 and 16.
The 38-year-old politician was driving the Audi A8 at 180 km/h in the 110 km/h zone, Bild newspaper reported, at 10.25pm on February 22nd.
According to the prosecuting attorney, Alvaro was driving with excessive speed.
He was taken to hospital in a critical condition and remained in a coma for several weeks.
Alvaro returned to work in the EU parliament after his recovery, but last June MEPs voted to strip him of his immunity.
In October 2013 Alvaro said on Twitter that he would leave the parliament when his term came to an end.
He wrote: “Ten great years in the EP. Had fantastic experiences and have learned a lot. Now time to seek new challenges after this term. Goodbye #EP.”
His sentence for the charge could be up to five years.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.