They drove at over 300 km/h through the city streets. The court sentenced two BMW drivers

Fines of PLN 10,000 PLN and a three-year driving ban – such penalties were imposed on Tuesday by a Białystok court in the trial of two young drivers who organized illegal car races on the streets of the city. One of them was traveling at a speed of over 300 km/h. The judgment is invalid.

The rally through the streets of Białystok took place on the night of June 12, 2024. Vehicles traveling at great speed were registered on the streets constituting the so-called the downtown ring road of the city – Tsiolkovsky and Niepodległości Avenue.

The speed limit there is 70 km/h, but the Municipal Police Headquarters in Białystok also covers the section where the speed limit is 50 km/h.

The police determined who was driving the BMW cars at such speed based on a video posted on the Internet. In her opinion, these were illegal car races. The accused are 28 and 34 years old.

One – according to the charges – drove at an average speed of 143 km/h, and in sections over 314 km/h, the other – at an average speed from 143 km/h to 165 km/h, and in sections – over 286 km/h.

The police also accused the first of them of driving without a license.

Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges. During the investigation, one of them said that the car was driven not by him, but by his father, who was temporarily in Poland at the time and permanently lives in Serbia.

The District Court in Białystok found both drivers guilty and sentenced them to fines of PLN 10,000 each. PLN fine, and imposed a three-year ban on driving all motor vehicles.

The court considered the expert's opinion regarding the speed at which both defendants were driving as the key evidence. For this purpose, the expert examined a live report from a mobile phone posted on one of the social networking sites.

Questioning the speed, the defenders wanted an expert appointed to the court to assess whether there had been any modifications to the drive system or whether the cars' software had been changed to enable them to achieve a higher speed than the factory-set maximum speed.

The gentlemen were driving at an extremely high speed and checking whether these cars were tuned or not, when the speed (permissible) was significantly exceeded anyway, was of no importance – said judge Iwona Hulko, justifying the verdict.

The court found the testimony unreliable, chaotic and inconsistent the father of one of the accused, who was allegedly the driver of one of the cars. The judge said that the online live coverage itself, city surveillance recordings and police testimonies were also important evidence.

– The social harm of these acts is very highthe purpose of punishment is to have a deterrent effect, it is supposed to have a preventive and educational effect – said Judge Hulko.

She assessed that the defendants wanted to show off and become known on the Internet, and their behavior on the road was very dangerous not only for themselves, but also for other people.

– They could become potential suicides and potential killers – she added.

The judgment is invalid. Neither the accused nor their defense lawyers were present during his announcement. (PAP)

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