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news
Davide Rebellin (Wikimedia Commons)Lorry driver who killed Davide Rebellin jailed for four years
The lorry driver who killed Davide Rebellin in a collision in November 2022 before fleeing the scene has been jailed for four years.
Wolfgang Rieke was sentenced in Vicenza earlier today, the German lorry driver receiving a four-year sentence, one year less than the five-year term that prosecutors had sought.
Rebellin's longevity competing in the sport he loved became the defining feature of the latter stages of the Italian's career, the iconic racer still pinning on a race number throughout the 2022 season, even past his 51st birthday and competing at Continental level in races against riders younger than half his age.
> Davide Rebellin made me fall in love with professional cycling (and all its flaws)
Of course to focus solely on the length of Rebellin's career would exclude unfairly the great success he enjoyed in his prime, pulling off the coveted Ardennes 'triple crown' in 2004, winning Amstel Gold, Flèche Wallonne and the monument Liège-Bastogne-Liège all in one week.
That was the first of three Flèche Wallonne victories for Rebellin who also won Tirreno-Adriatico, San Sebastian, Paris-Nice and a stage of the Giro. His career was also punctuated by a two-year doping ban having tested positive for Mircera at the 2008 Olympics.
In November 2022, a little over a month after his retirement, Rebellin was hit and killed by Rieke who subsequently fled the scene and returned to Germany. Last year, the lawyers representing the lorry driver, who was extradited to Italy in July 2023, had requested a reduced sentence of three years and 11 months of house arrest.
However, Rebellin's family were vehemently opposed to any such plea bargain, particularly when viewed in the light of Rieke's two previous driving convictions in Italy.
In 2001, the lorry driver was convicted of fleeing the scene of a non-fatal crash in Foggia, Puglia, without stopping to give assistance to those involved in it, while in 2014 he was handed a driving ban after officers found him drunk at the wheel of his vehicle in Chieti, Abruzzo.
According to roadside video and witness photos, after the fatal collision involving Rebellin, Rieke got out of his cab briefly to assess the cyclist's condition, before fleeing the scene and driving to Germany, where his brother's haulage firm is based.
In the weeks after Rebellin's death, the Italian professional cyclists' union, the ACCPI, criticised what they regarded as a lack of action from the authorities.
"You can kill a cyclist, flee abroad driving your lorry and continue to live as though nothing happened," the ACCPI said in December 2022, "while the person you killed is still waiting for their autopsy and his devastated family has not yet been able to arrange his funeral."
Rieke has been jailed for four years.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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13 comments
As well as punishment it would be important to stop this person driving trucks again. He has a long term problem and poses an ongoing danger to the public at large.
The UK style struggles with that - does Italy or Germany do this better?
I doubt an Italian Court has much juristiction over a German issued drivers license. The below suggests not. They can theoretically ban him in Italy but there doesnt appear to be a mechanism of enforcing it or noting it on his German license.
https://se-legal.de/driving-bans-in-germany-impact-on-driving-licenses-a...
It's surprising that there hasn't been a push to have some kind of European-wide driving license. Standardised tests (allowing for minor differences between countries) and some method of license removal.
There are sort of First Generation standards, which are a series of minimums around mainly common process (eg driving license categories).
But no developed detail.
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/vehicles/driving-licence/get-drivi...
From 2006
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1430377687650&uri=CE...
Germany does have some effective legislation for driving offenders. I know someone in Germany who crashed while over the limit and was banned for 12 months, as would happen in the UK. However, at the end of the 12 months he had to reapply for his licence and had to give a blood sample. As he was a (sort of) functioning alcoholic, the test showed his liver function to be poor as well as traces of alcohol in his system. He was refused his licence being returned as a result.
It'd be good if this system was introduced in the UK too.
Italy's record on road safety isn't great as it's gor about 2x the road death rate of the UK. Sweden has the safest roads in the EU and Bulgaria has the worst, though Serbia (not in the EU) has the most dangerous roads in Europe.
in the UK the DVLA will ask the worst offenders to prove they are fit to get their licence back.
". . . if you fall into the High Risk Offenders category of convicted drink-drivers you cannot get your licence back until our doctors are satisfied that you are medically fit to drive again."
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66f560e63b919067bb4827ae/...
Should definitely be a lifetime driving ban.
Should have been a lifetime driving ban -- and lengthy prison sentence -- the first time he hit someone and left them to die on the side of the road, even if that person managed to survive.
There should never be an opportunity to commit that crime twice.
Exactly. I don't think anyone wants to share the road with selfish sociopaths who are only interested in themselves and would leave you to die if they think they could get away with it.
Lenient, yes. Unfortunately we are well used to lenient sentences for motorists but at least this scumbag is found guilty and locked up. We can only hope that he has a really terrible time in prison!
RIP Davide
That seems incredibly lenient especially as it was a hit and run.
I guess its *slightly* comforting to know we dont have the most lenient motornormative justice system in Europe.
Bet he was pissed too given his history. Should put the brother out of business.
I'd bet he is out of prison in 1-2 years if he doesn't hit a guard or do something stupid, most prisoners are released early!