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Lorry driver who killed Davide Rebellin reportedly got out of cab, looked at dead cyclist, then drove off

Driver who fled scene of fatal crash on Wednesday and was traced to Germany has previous convictions in Italy

The lorry driver who ran over and killed Italian former professional cyclist Davide Rebellin on Wednesday is reported to have got out of his cab, looked at the victim, who was killed instantly in the crash, then drove off.

Rebellin, who retired at the end of the season at the age of 51 following three decades as a professional rider, had been on a training ride when he was struck and killed by the truck driver who was reportedly exiting a slip road on a roundabout in Montebello Vicentino, in the northern Italian province of Vicenza.

The roundabout is located next to a bar and restaurant that is used by lorry drivers, and is also close to a truck wash, as well as being adjacent to the A4 Trieste to Turin motorway.

The Italian news agency ANSA reports that eyewitnesses took pictures of the lorry as the driver, a German national aged 62, fled the scene at speed, and that he has been identified following an investigation in which police in Germany co-operated with Carabinieri investigating the crash.

> Davide Rebellin killed in reported hit-and-run collision involving lorry driver

However, he has not been placed under arrest because unlike in Italy, there is no crime of “omicidio stradale” – “traffic homicide” – under German law, with the driver fleeing to his home country following Wednesday’s events.

According to ANSA, the lorry driver, who works for a haulage firm owned by his brother in Recke, North Rhine-Westphalia, has two prior convictions in Italy.

The first of those relates to an incident in Foggia, Puglia, in 2001 in which he was subsequently convicted of fleeing the scene of a crash without stopping to give assistance to people involved in it.

The second incident, in 2014, saw him banned from driving after traffic police in Chieti, Abruzzo, found him drunk at the wheel of his lorry.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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28 comments

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Christopher TR1 | 1 year ago
15 likes

survives 30 years of competition in one of the most dangerous sports. And then is killed "just like that" by some worthless turd. No words....

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PRSboy | 1 year ago
19 likes

Some of these comments seem to have lost sight of the fact that this man got out of his lorry, looked at the man he'd killed, and drove off.  What a disgusting person.

I hope he feels the full force of law in which ever country it needs to be, and is jailed for a long time, and that his family firm gets fined out if existence for letting him behind the wheel of a truck again. 

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alchemilla | 1 year ago
2 likes

No arrest? Does this mean there'll be no repercussions whatsoever?

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Rendel Harris replied to alchemilla | 1 year ago
10 likes

alchemilla wrote:

No arrest? Does this mean there'll be no repercussions whatsoever?

No, as fellow EU members Germany and Italy are both bound by the European Convention on Extradition, the German authorities should arrest and hand him over once the Italian authorities make the request.

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andystow | 1 year ago
7 likes

...there is no crime of “omicidio stradale” – “traffic homicide” – under German law...

Wait, what?!

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Simon_MacMichael replied to andystow | 1 year ago
10 likes

There are laws in Germany relating to causing death by driving, of course; I think in this case though there is no equivalent (in degree of seriousness/culpability) to the one in Italy that presumably prosecutors are looking to bring.

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pipthepilot replied to andystow | 1 year ago
11 likes

In fairness we don't have that in the UK either, we have causing death by dangerous driving. Strange that he couldn't be arrested though. 

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NOtotheEU replied to pipthepilot | 1 year ago
6 likes

The Germans do have a history of not arresting people who have commited worse crimes than this so no surprise. Maybe the Italians should ask Mossad to kidnap him and get him to italy to face justice?

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Xenophon2 replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
8 likes

I can see where you got your handle from, relax, you're out, have a Rishi!

Just FYI something which you could look up if you read German:  a pair of street racers were convicted for murder on final appeal for a race that ended in the death of another driver in Berlin back in 2017.  One got life, the other 13 years.  Life in Germany=indeterminate length, no parole for at least 15 years after conviction.  

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mark1a replied to Xenophon2 | 1 year ago
5 likes

Have a Rishi? Left/Labour/Remain and Right/Tory/Leave are in no way mutually exclusive.

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Car Delenda Est replied to mark1a | 1 year ago
4 likes

Thank you.
Socialist/Green/Leaver reporting for duty.

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NOtotheEU replied to Xenophon2 | 1 year ago
0 likes

I was referring to murder on a much bigger scale which also ended with a death in Berlin.

Good to hear the outcome of the more recent case though, sounds like our courts could learn something from that.

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chrisonabike replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
0 likes

Don't mention the Godwin!

Are you trying some Teutonic "Fiat Driving" there (borrowing from other thread)?  I think they knew that - but then so did you.

I know zero about German cycling infra and conditions which is a pity since internet rumour has that it's a mixed bag [1], [2], [3], [4] but apparently has some rather good bits (Bremen - this is the Copenhagenize index though which ludicrously says Copenhagen is the world's best.  At publicity, maybe...) And also decent enforcement (by UK standards, not Dutch obviously).

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NOtotheEU replied to chrisonabike | 1 year ago
0 likes

chrisonatrike wrote:

Are you trying some Teutonic "Fiat Driving" there (borrowing from other thread)?  I think they knew that - but then so did you.

 

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marmotte27 replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
6 likes

Maybe if Brits gave up trying to look down on others, they'd not be in the dire straits they've created for themselves.. .

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Car Delenda Est replied to marmotte27 | 1 year ago
1 like
marmotte27 wrote:

Maybe if Brits gave up trying to look down on others, they'd not be in the dire straits they've created for themselves.. .

Kinda ironic

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Eton Rifle replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
6 likes
NOtotheEU wrote:

I was referring to murder on a much bigger scale which also ended with a death in Berlin.

Good to hear the outcome of the more recent case though, sounds like our courts could learn something from that.

Why are you sad Gammons so obsessed with a war that has all but passed from living memory?

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hawkinspeter replied to Eton Rifle | 1 year ago
9 likes

Eton Rifle wrote:

Why are you sad Gammons so obsessed with a war that has all but passed from living memory?

Not a gammon, but it's well worth looking at how Hitler came to power and not making the same mistakes again. Right-wing populism is rising in power around the world, so we need to ensure that people don't think nationalism and xenophobia are at all acceptable. People should be worried whenever people like Pritti Patel or Suella Braverman are anywhere near our government.

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NOtotheEU replied to Eton Rifle | 1 year ago
2 likes

Eton Rifle wrote:
NOtotheEU wrote:

I was referring to murder on a much bigger scale which also ended with a death in Berlin.

Good to hear the outcome of the more recent case though, sounds like our courts could learn something from that.

Why are you sad Gammons so obsessed with a war that has all but passed from living memory?

I hope you don't ever say that to someone from Poland, Russia or Israel because you won't like the reply! The day this passes from memory the world will be a more dangerous place. The last two trials of a Nazi war criminals that I'm aware of were in 2021 so you forget if you want to but I'll always remember.

EDIT;

I thought I'd add, before my post gets misinterpreted, that I in no way hold modern Germany and it's people responsible for it's Nazi past. We should never forget the evil things humans have done to each other as those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

ANOTHER EDIT;

I hope it's obvious to everyone that anything I have said on this subject comes from my anger and disapointment of the authorities lack of action against the heartless scumbag who killed a cyclist and not some anti German sentiment. Just in case my comments and my username combined make anyone jump to the wrong conclusion.

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BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
3 likes

That is quite a puerile comment. A brexitty sort of comment. 

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NOtotheEU replied to BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP | 1 year ago
0 likes

You could make a case for a lot of my posts being puerile and I'm OK with that but the EU didn't exist during WWII so I'm unsure of it's relevence to Brexit.

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Wingguy replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
5 likes

WW2 isn't relevant to Rebellin's killer either but you're talking about it anyway, so...?

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NOtotheEU replied to Wingguy | 1 year ago
1 like

Wingguy wrote:

WW2 isn't relevant to Rebellin's killer either but you're talking about it anyway, so...?

I was contrasting the lack of arrest of a German citizen who commited a crime in another country with a past example of the same. Quite relevant in circumstances if not in time.

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Wingguy replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
3 likes

NOtotheEU wrote:

Wingguy wrote:

WW2 isn't relevant to Rebellin's killer either but you're talking about it anyway, so...?

I was contrasting the lack of arrest of a German citizen who commited a crime in another country with a past example of the same. Quite relevant in circumstances if not in time.

If that counts as relevant then someone contrasting something that's part of Europe with something else that's part of Europe is just as relevant. So...?

In fact, Since the EU is part of a direct line of organisations originally founded to stop a very old guy in Germany getting away with things, that comparison is indeed far more relevant than yours.

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NOtotheEU replied to Wingguy | 1 year ago
1 like

You make a fair point so I concede.

In my defence most of BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP's replies to my post's mention Brexit in some way or another and in many cases it isn't relevent, apart from a reference to my username perhaps.

 

 

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Wingguy replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
3 likes

NOtotheEU wrote:

In my defence most of BIRMINGHAMisaDUMP's replies to my post's mention Brexit in some way or another and in many cases it isn't relevent, apart from a reference to my username perhaps.

Which is also completely fair. Apropos nothing, you chose to make the EU a central part of your online persona, announced as part of every post you make. If that makes people want to mention it, it's simply a natural consequence of your own decision. Take some personal responsibility and deal with it.

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NOtotheEU replied to Wingguy | 1 year ago
0 likes

I have no problem dealing with it and I don't think I've ever complained, it is what it is. It's not something worth falling out over.

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marmotte27 replied to Wingguy | 1 year ago
2 likes

" founded to stop a very old guy in Germany getting away with things,"

How does this apply to the European Coal and Steel Community and subsequent European communities?

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