I was watching Liverpool - Barcelona last night with some friends and we got chatting about Kluivert. That car crash, in which Kliuvert killed a pedestrian whilst driving his big, expensive BMW, came up. Then we realised that none of us knew much about it.
Can anybody enlighten me as to:[list][li]Whether it was a drink-driving incident.[/li]
[li]How Kluivert got off so apparently lightly[/li]
[li]What the Dutch press and people felt about the fact that he got off so lightly.[/list=A]Any recollections much appreciated.[/li]
pan
No alcohol was involved. But to put a 19-year old spoiled brat in a BMW 325i Convertible is just as bad an idea, IMHO.
Kluivert had to carry out 240 hours of public service, and a probation period on his license of two years. This was due to the fact that he was speeding at the time of the accident (estimation: 90 km/h in a 50 km/h zone). The car he hit was standing in the middle of the road - attemting to turn. So technically, the other driver was at least partially at fault as well. However, the State Attorney succesfully argued that death could have been avoided had the collision taken place at a lower speed. Therefore, the charge was “driving with gross negligence and excessive speed, resulting in death”, or words to that effect. The judge figured putting Kluivert in jail woulnd’t do much good for any of the parties involved, so he sentenced him to a public duty of 240 hours. His work involved Safe Traffic Promotions at schools, et cetera.
Opinions in the press and among the public were, of course, mixed. But rationally, it all boils down to a young lad with an expensive toy and little sense of mortality making a big, big mistake. The fact that the other driver was killed is a sentence in itself. Of course, anyone who’s not an Ajax-fan will tell you that he’s a vicious murderer that should have been locked up forever. YMMV.
Cheers Coldie - goes to show how little we collectively knew, given that it wasn’t a pedestrian and there was no alcohol involved.
Anyway - now I can impress my mates with my incredible knowledge of Dutch footballer’s tragic pasts.
Incidentally - do you feel that the fact that he was an international striker helped him stay out of jail, made the judge harder on him (as a role model) or had no effect?
A tough call.
Best thing to do is ask myself if I would have wound up in jail had I done this. I probably wouldn’t have. I honestly think I also would have gotten a public duty, a probation, and a stiff fine. Maybe I would have gotten a suspension without probation, I don’t know. But I think it’s fair to say that Kluivert got the sentence Dutch law serves you when you have an accident like this.
Around the same time, a motorbiker went to jail for 6 months after he wiped out and killed a mother and her 6 year old daughter, riding bicycles. The difference? He was doing 200 km/h within town limits (50 km/h). I do believe a difference can be made between 40 over the limit and 150 over the limit. Plus, these two cyclists were absolutely not at fault, whereas the guy that got hit by Kluivert, was.