Driver accused of killing baby
Police charge young man with causing death of seven-month-old boy while driving under influence of cannabis
A YOUNG driver is to appear in court today accused of causing the death of a seven-month-old baby while driving under the influence of cannabis.
The accident happened on Saturday afternoon when the 20-year-old driver, from Aigues-Mortes (Gard), drove into the back of a car on a roundabout at Pérols in Hérault.
Police said the shock of the impact was so severe that the baby boy's carrycot was wrenched from its straps and catapulted into the back of the driver's seat.
The baby died hours later in hospital. His parents, both from Montpellier, were at his side. His mother had been slightly injured in the crash, but his father had been unhurt.
Police tests showed the crash driver had cannabis residues in his bloodstream and he was held at the commissariat (police station) in Montpellier. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence of drugs.
The deputy prosecutor at Montpellier, Patrick Desjardins, said he the driver had said he had a "black-out" while driving.
The incident comes after several other road deaths where drink or drugs were involved: on October 21 a young woman died in Nice after a drunk driver hit a police car, on September 22 a drunk and drugged driver killed a policeman and a young woman in Cannes and in July an 11-year-old boy was killed by a drunk driver at La Ciotat.
