Drunk 19-Year-Old Crashes Car Around 50 Meters Into Forest Near Bad St. Leonhard

The Bad St. Leonhard fire department deployed 25 emergency personnel to recover the wrecked vehicle from the wooded area. The operation in the rugged terrain proved complex.

Response and Recovery

Police confiscated the 19-year-old's driver's license at the scene of the accident. In addition, the man will be reported to the Wolfsberg district authority.

Investigations into the exact cause of the accident are ongoing. In addition to the driver's intoxication, it remains unclear why the car left the roadway.

The Erzbergstraße runs through a hilly, forested area on the edge of Bad St. Leonhard im Lavanttal. In the early morning hours on a Sunday, traffic on this stretch is typically light.

Legal Consequences

The district of Wolfsberg lies in the Lavanttal in Carinthia. The region is characterized by mountain roads and forested areas, which makes recovering vehicles that have left the roadway technically challenging.

The authorities announced that the incident will be reviewed as part of administrative proceedings at the Wolfsberg district authority. In addition to a fine, the driver also faces a several-month suspension of his driver's license as well as an entry in the driver's license register.

Background: Drunk Driving

Drunk driving ranks among the most common causes of accidents in Austria. Penalties apply starting at 0.5 per mille, with the threshold for a criminal offense set at 0.8 per mille. For novice drivers, a general ban on alcohol while driving applies during the probationary period.

This case once again illustrates the dangers posed by a combination of alcohol, nighttime, and difficult-to-judge mountain road conditions. Police are urging road users to drive sober and attentively, even during the summer months.