The Office of the Public Prosecutor has called for a four-year prison sentence, a €16,000 fine, and a lifetime driving ban for Bardad B., a French bus driver involved in a fatal crash in Schoten, Antwerp Province, in 2022.
On 10 April 2022, the BlaBlaCar bus travelling from Paris to Amsterdam collided with a concrete barrier on the E19 motorway. The vehicle overturned, blocking the highway entirely.
Two passengers, a 29-year-old Colombian man and a 17-year-old French girl, were killed instantly. Thirteen others were hospitalised with various injuries, some requiring amputations.
Bardad B., the driver, admitted to falling asleep at the wheel. However, saliva tests confirmed cannabis use, later corroborated by a blood test. Despite this, a police court ruled last year that there was no scientific evidence to prove that his drug consumption caused the accident. According to the initial judgement, the crash was attributed to his drowsiness.
The driver was initially sentenced to 30 months in prison, with 18 months suspended. He was also fined €8,000, of which €3,000 was suspended, and received a 10-year driving ban. Court records show prior convictions in France for driving under the influence of drugs (2007, 2021), alcohol (2011), and possession of illegal drugs for personal use (2020).
Families of the victims and survivors expressed frustration at what they saw as a lenient ruling. The prosecution appealed, urging the correctional court to establish a causal link between the driver’s cannabis consumption and the deadly incident.
Bardad B.’s lawyer continues to dispute this connection and has requested that the original verdict be upheld.
