Temporarily suspended

Crash into railing: Drunk driver was a policewoman

(Bild: Feuerwehr Lebring St. Margarethen)

Following the serious traffic accident last Sunday in Lebring in southern Styria, it has now been revealed that the drunk driver was a policewoman (32). According to the Styrian Provincial Police Directorate, she has been provisionally suspended. Her daughter was also in the car at the time of the crash.

Both the driver and her daughter were injured in the serious crash on Sunday. The woman is said to have crashed her car into the sidewalk railing at the Kiessnerweg railroad underpass while under the influence of alcohol. The 32-year-old had presumably lost control of her vehicle due to excessive speed. 

The 32-year-old policewoman was suspended.(Bild: Feuerwehr Lebring St. Margarethen)

Officer provisionally suspended
Heimo Kohlbacher, spokesman for the Styrian police department, has now confirmed to the "Krone" that the drunk driver was a police officer. "She has been provisionally suspended", Kohlbacher said. The police disciplinary authority will decide what measures will be taken after the court and district authority proceedings have been concluded.

Treatment in hospital waived
The mother and her daughter escaped with minor injuries in the accident. The 32-year-old even decided not to seek hospital treatment.

The car was so wedged into the railing that the fire department had to be called out with heavy equipment.(Bild: Feuerwehr Lebring St. Margarethen)

Charges for drunk driver
In the accident, the car had become so wedged in the railing that the fire department first had to cut it off using a grinder. The woman was reported to the public prosecutor's office in Graz and the Leibnitz district court. She is said to have had more than one per mille of alcohol in her blood during the breathalyzer test.