Firefighter appeals penalty for collision with two deaths in Leiria – Portugal

• Photo: Pedro Brutt Pacheco

Accident occurred at an intersection of the EN109, in Bregieira, in the municipality of Leiria

“He couldn’t avoid the shock, but he wasn’t the one who caused it,” he said yesterday to CM Almeida Lopes, president of the Humanitarian Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Leiria, the corporation to which the 40-year-old firefighter belongs, who is stationed in the Monte Redondo section.

According to Almeida Lopes, “the collision occurred when the other driver, at an intersection, changed direction and crossed the car in front of our firefighter, who was on his way to the fire station to fight a forest fire”. Alongside was his companion, also a firefighter.The accident occurred in August 2021, on the EN109, in Bregieira, when the Feira dos 29 was taking place, in Monte Redondo, with a lot of movement on the road. The two fatal victims are a couple aged 70 and 76 who were riding a quad bike.It was proven in court that at the time of the collision he was traveling at 72 km/h, a speed “above the legal limit and inappropriate for the road and circumstances in question”, says the sentence, adding that “he did not take precautions to carry out maneuvers to change direction by other drivers at that intersection.” He was convicted of two counts of gross negligence manslaughter.