In August 2021, Jozef and his wife Anne-Marie, a couple from Kortenaken, had planned to treat themselves to a long weekend at the North Sea, in their second residence, located in Nieuport. But, quickly, their stay had taken an unexpected turn. Indeed, while they were traveling on the E40 towards the coast, they had to deal with a driver who was, to say the least… nervous.
“It was quiet on the road…”
It all started when Jozef wanted to overtake a driver who was on the middle lane: “It was calm on the road, I had my cruise control activated, then I accelerated to make an overtaking manoeuvre. I had not seen anyone arrive, then suddenly, I saw in my rear view mirror a dark gray bumper, ”he told our colleagues from Laatste Nieuws.
A Mercedes had indeed just arrived at high speed and had visibly been embarrassed by the maneuver of Jozef’s Porsche: “The driver started to honk his horn and make gestures. When I fell back, it started rolling up to me. He had an iron bar in his hand. Then he tried to pull us off the road for the first time,” he added.
Fortunately, Jozef is a driving instructor, so he knew how to react. But the driver didn’t stop there. “In total, he tried to push us into the safety rail four times. He was crazy”. Then the situation escalated. The driver had blocked the Porsche and had forced the victim to stop on the hard shoulder. He had then come out with his iron bar and, seeing that the Porsche was backing up, had swung it in their direction. “There could have been deaths,” the driver also told the Nieuwsblad.
other victims
In the meantime, Jozef had called the police, and the crazy driver had finally fled. The couple had then been escorted and had spent the night at the station, to explain the situation. “And while we were giving our statement, another couple arrived. Their Mercedes had just been hit by the same driver,” assured Jozef.
More than a year and a half later, KB, the 41-year-old driver, has just been tried. He was convicted of obstruction of traffic, illegal possession of a weapon and death threats. He was sentenced to a 37-month suspended prison sentence, can no longer drink alcohol for 5 years and will have to take a course in managing emotions.
The couple also received more than 2,000 euros in damages but will probably appeal this sentence, deemed light: “Within a millimeter, it would have been fatal to us,” Jozef said in court.