Sleep-deprived driver gets suspended sentence after serious crash

A man who drove while too sleep-deprived to control his car safely and caused a head-on collision has received a 30-day prison sentence, suspended, mbl.is reports. The South Iceland District Court convicted him of negligent bodily injury and traffic offences.

The crash happened on April 19, 2024, on Suðurlandsvegur, a road, just east of Rauðalækur in Ásahreppur municipality. The man was driving west when his car collided head-on with a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction. The other car’s driver and passenger were injured.

The passenger suffered bruising to the abdominal wall and injuries to a lung and abdominal organs. The court said bleeding from the small intestine’s mesentery required surgeons to remove part of the small intestine and part of the colon. The other driver suffered injuries to abdominal organs and superficial injuries to the abdomen, lower back and pelvis.

The court did not convict the man of negligently injuring the other driver, finding that the injuries did not meet the legal threshold for that offence and that the case evidence did not support such a conviction. The prosecution had dropped the part of the charge concerning overtaking. The man pleaded guilty to the remaining conduct, and the court found no reason to doubt his confession.

In suspending the sentence, the court considered the circumstances, his unequivocal guilty plea and the fact that he had no previous convictions. The sentence will lapse after two years if he complies with general probation. The verdict was issued on October 30.

At the defendant’s request, civil claims included in the indictment were referred to separate civil proceedings, so the court did not rule on them. He was ordered to pay 315,091 krónur in legal costs, including two-thirds of his court-appointed defence lawyer’s fee. The state treasury will cover the remaining costs.