Elderly driver admits guilt in 2022 traffic fatality case

An elderly driver who killed a motorcyclist in Gozo as a result of a negligent lane-change, two years ago, has been sentenced after admitting to related charges.

69-year-old Joseph Buttigieg pleaded guilty to the involuntary homicide of 66-year-old Bernard Xerri and assorted driving offences, two years after the fatal collision in Triq it-Tessuti, Xewkija.

Buttigieg had been behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero when he failed to indicate his intention prior to making a turn off the main road and collided with Xerri, who had been riding a Yamaha motorcycle.

Xerri suffered an extensive traumatic brain injury as a result of the collision and did not survive.

Buttigieg entered a guilty plea during his arraignment on 28 May 2024.

In his considerations on punishment, Magistrate Jean Paul Grech, presiding over the Court of Magistrates (Gozo), observed that the defendant had admitted guilt at the first opportunity and that he had already paid Xerri’s heirs for a shortfall in the insurance payment, for the damage to the motorcycle, out of his own pocket.

But this did not mean that the court could ignore the seriousness of this case, said the magistrate.

In its submissions on punishment, the defence had suggested a conditional discharge, arguing that the incident was the result of a slight error on Buttigieg’s part, but this did not wash with the magistrate.

He observed that the incident had taken place on a straight stretch of road with no visual obstructions, while the victim had been in the correct lane. Buttigieg had been travelling in the opposite direction in the other lane and had turned, without warning, into the direction of oncoming traffic to enter a side street. “He appears to have done so by suddenly turning, invading the opposite lane, and this without first checking if he could do so without endangering himself and other people. So much so, that he had not even used his indicator to show that he was going to change direction.”

The fatal incident could have been avoided entirely had Buttigieg stopped and checked for traffic in the other lane before initiating the turn, said the court, pointing out that he had been obliged to do so.

“Had the defendant truly been paying attention in his driving and followed traffic regulations which indicate how one should change lanes, he would not have failed to see the victim approaching on the opposite lane,” observed the magistrate.

Quoting a comment made by Lord Justice-General Emslie in a UK case from the 1980s, the defendant’s driving  “fell far below the standard of driving expected of the competent and careful driver and that it occurred either in the face of obvious and material dangers which were or should have been observed, appreciated and guarded against, or in circumstances which showed a complete disregard for any potential dangers which result from the way in which the vehicle was being driven.”

Finding him guilty of all charges upon his own admission, the court sentenced Buttigieg to six months imprisonment, which was suspended for a year. He was also disqualified from driving for three months and ordered to refund the €2,796.44 costs of appointing court experts within the next 6 months.

Superintendent Bernard Charles Spiteri prosecuted.