« It had to go wrong »: Public Prosecution Service strict for Tom Waes during session, punishment known on 26 May

In the night from Friday 29 to 30 November 2024, TV maker Tom Waes drove his car to his house on the Left Bank after a night out at the South. At the entrance of the Kennedytunnel, he popped with his old -timer, a Porsche, against a manned botsabsorbearer. Under major media attention he appeared this morning for the police judge in Antwerp.

« The core of the case is known, » said the Public Prosecution Service. « The impact was huge. He had to be released from the wreck and was taken to the hospital in danger. The blood samples showed only alcohol, but a very high value of 2.44 promille. The rules about drinking and driving are not to bully people. We see sufficient scientific research behind this. We see the consequences of it every day.

Alcohol

The public prosecutor demands a fine, a three -month driving ban and an alcohol lock of one year. Waes should also take his driving exams again. « The defendant has not been a saint in traffic. It once had to go wrong. In the past he has already committed several traffic violations. »

Read too. Tom Waes in conversation with Dutch road workers: « The accident has changed my behavior »

Tom Waes’ lawyer, August Blomme, said he had never had a client with such a big guilt and self -insight. « I wanted to ask the acquittal, because those blood samples do not get through the legal test. But my client refuses. We ask for probation measures in which Mr. Waes is committed to organizations that deal with the fate of traffic victims. »

Blomme does not think an alcohol lock is a good idea. He cites the busy professional life of Tom Waes. The judge and the Public Prosecution Service point out that an alcohol lock does not stand in the way of normal driving behavior. But Waes would like to be able to drive several cars for work.

The judge spoke of more than reckless behavior, « almost suicidal and murderous ». « There could have been killing here. » Tom Waes admitted that it was not the first time he got into the car drunk. He also ran into the lamp in 2005, the right stipped. « That was a slight intoxication, but that did not stop me from doing this again, » Waes replied.

Waes again apologized for the driver of the Botsabsorbeerder. « I’m sincerely sorry. We had a good conversation in which he told me how people in his profession are often the first to be there after an accident. »

The ruling will follow on 26 May.

14 Glass alcohol

A few days after the accident, Tom Waes already published the VRT through his employer a statement in which he admitted that he had crawled drunk behind the wheel. « The fact is that I went to the restaurant and café that evening, and that I drank too much to be allowed to drive the car, » it sounded. « Yet I got into my car to get home. Incomprehensible. I should never have done that, there is no doubt about that. I realize that I had great luck. »

Read too. They caused an accident drunk, but turned their mistakes into something positive: « I destroyed the lives of my victim and of myself »

2.44 Promille alcohol corresponds to 14 glasses of alcohol. Waes was not under the influence of drugs. He also did not wear a belt at the time of impact. Waes risks a hefty punishment: those who are convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, can get a maximum of a driving ban up to 5 years, an alcohol lock up to three years and a fine of up to 16,000 euros.

The TV maker is also being prosecuted for unintentional blows or injuries in traffic to the driver of the Botsabsorbeerder he rode. The man was slightly injured by the blow and had to go to the hospital. This can be punished with a prison sentence between 8 days and 1 year. In addition, Waes is also prosecuted for not wearing his belt and the arrival of a foreseeable obstacle.

Read too. “Perhaps Tom Waes has unintentionally done more in the fight against alcohol in traffic than all BOB actions together”

The accident raised an almost unseen amount of media attention. Old debates such as the zero tolerance for alcohol in traffic came back on the table.