Overview
- A crash on the B3 near Freiburg in early May 2025 left three relatives dead — a 27-year-old man and two girls aged six and 13 — and four people seriously injured after the family car struck a parked trailer and caught fire.
- Investigators and a court expert established key causes: a post-crash blood-alcohol level of 1.4 ‰, seven occupants in a five-seat vehicle with several children likely unrestrained, and an estimated impact speed of about 70 km/h.
- At proceedings concluded Wednesday, July 29, 2026, the 47-year-old driver admitted the charges and was convicted of negligent endangerment of road traffic, negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm and sentenced to one year and ten months on probation.
- The Amtsgericht Freiburg permanently revoked the defendant’s driving licence with the earliest reapplication period noted by the court, and it weighed the aggravating facts against mitigating factors such as the defendant’s lack of prior convictions and ongoing psychiatric treatment.
- The case underlines the compounded risks of driving under the influence, vehicle overloading and failing to secure child passengers and may prompt renewed attention to enforcement and public safety messaging on child restraints and sober driving.