Farm Accident: Tragedy on an Adventure Farm
In the wake of an unfortunate incident that claimed a young life, the Bielefeld district court handed down a sentence. A farm worker was fined 90 days, while the farm owner incurred a fine of 6,500 euros, following the untimely demise of a 12-year-old on an adventure farm. The charges levied were negligent homicide.
According to the court's statement, the responsible worker, now 48 years old, steered a tractor coupled with a seven-ton slurry tanker trailer across the premises. A series of events led to a 12-year-old tripping and receiving fatal injuries, pinned under the tractor's wheel.
The incident occurred midday during the NRW school vacation, in July of the previous year. At that time, approximately 100 children were present on the farm.
Presiding Judge Lars Herzog expressed his thoughts on the matter, advocating that under such circumstances, the tractor driver should not have been authorized to navigate the farm's grounds. While driving at a slow pace of 6 kilometers per hour, the driver's negligence was deemed to be in the lower range.
The farm owner was held accountable for inadequate communication regarding the potential risks of an accident. The farm worker's breach of duty of care was moderate, while the farm owner's 'organizational error' was among the charges levied against them.
The presiding judge acknowledged the gravity of the situation, adding, "The event was a tragedy; no punishment can compensate for the parents' loss."
Evidently, the farm owner's neglect to adequately inform the tractor driver about potential accident risks contributed significantly to the verdict. The judgments concluded with a 90-day fine for the worker and a 6,500 euro fine for the farm owner, effectively ending proceedings against them.
Enrichment Insights:
Although the supplied sources did not provide specific information regarding the frequency of fines and more severe punishments related to farm accidents involving children and heavy machinery in Germany, the farming sector is known to grapple with instances of accidents involving children and heavy machinery. Typically, while fines are imposed for offenses such as safety violations, more stringent penalties are meted out for events resulting in severe harm or negligence. However, without specialized legal databases or reports, it remains challenging to quantify the exact ratio of fines versus more severe punishments in such cases.
