Onto the road. The end

Photo: Lääne prefektuur

The lad that drove himself and three companions to death, early Saturday morning, was under steadfast police scrutiny due to a string of traffic infringements.

«[The car] pulled onto the road, out of the parking lot, straight into the opposite line, and... The end,» commented the truck driver, after unwillingly squashing a BMW with four young people inside of it, near Haapsalu, early Saturday morning.

The car, hit violently, was tossed to one side of the road – the truck, to the other. For the truck, it took close to a hundred meters to come to a full stop. Ploughing through the highway ditch and the cycle/pedestrian parallel to it, the large vehicle plunged into the next ditch. 

To raise up the young men, aged 19 to 23, surely took a lot of love and toil for the parents. That fateful morning, all was over in no time at all. In the crash, claiming four lives and sending a 15-years-old girl into hospital in critical condition – should we sympathise equally with all? As a father of a girl about to turn 15, and having familiarised myself with the misdemeanour and court statistics of the driver Madis Kruusma, I have to admit I’m having difficulty at that. 

Belts off

I feel most pity for the ones who failed to assess the danger of sitting into the newly bought BMW of Mr Kruusma, the vehicle proudly adorning the young owner’s Facebook page. The road conditions being great and the car decent, still the auto heaved itself out of the Iveria all-night-bar parking lot with such speed as to find itself in the wrong line.

Prior to Iveria, the youth partied in Haapsalu. As a rule, Iveria is recipient to the overflow of nightclubs and pubs after these are closed. Not clear yet, if Mr Kruusma was sober or not – expert analysis takes time.

According to Western Prefecture police press representative, the said driver was stopped, for his driving style, twice between 2 and 5 am. In both cases, the man was sober and alone in the car. Even so, the police knows not, as yet, whatever happened between 5 and 7 in the morning.

Initial information says the only one with safety belt fastened, in the car, was the girl. Due to delicacy of health data, press representative at North-Estonian Regional Hospital refused to comment on the young patient’s condition. To the knowledge of Postimees, the girl is alive.

Glancing into the past of Mr Kruusma, involved in rally racing as a hobby, the picture is bleak. By April 2008, Mr Kruusma just having turned into an adult, he had ten punishments under his belt – for misdemeanour.

As a minor, he was caught drunk driving (alcohol content 0.76 mg/l), without the right to drive a motor vehicle of that category. The vehicle was uninsured and he was unable to show authorisation document to use the vehicle. And that’s not all – the car had not undergone the mandatory survey.

For eight times he had been punished for consuming alcoholic beverages as a minor. Also, he had already been punished for disturbing other people’s peace and infringing public order in other ways. To that, add acquisition or possessing of tobacco products as minor.

In April 2008, Mr Kruusma earned his first punishment as an adult, now falling under Penal Code: for driving a car while drunk (0.35 mg/l). True, the crime was committed while still a minor. Mr Kruusma was sentenced to jail; however, the punishment entered not into force. Instead, he got 18 months on probation. It needs to be noted, however, that in the following five years Mr Kruusma had not faced the court.

According to Ivar Läll, field director at Haapsalu Police Department, the driver now perished still had been under their surveillance bit for speeding and ignoring traffic signs – and that quite recently. 

On Saturday, night, Lääne County kept a vigil for the lost – assembling at a Haapsalu parking lot, they headed to the accident site, with candles. As assessed by participants, the colonnade stretched to some two kilometres, with 150-200 cars and up to 500 people of various ages. Around a highway safety post, the mourners arranged photos of the late young men, surrounded by white candles and roses. From the pictures, eyes of young men, with a long life still ahead of them, were surveying the quiet crowd.

Speed not, he said

«Madis was my classmate,» said Rain Kruusmann. «He fixed cars and did rally [racing]. Tinkering together with his father, they remade Ladas for amateur rally.» Accompanied by his girlfriend, Mr Kruusmann lit a candle at the sad site. «Madis was a friendly type, with a good sense of humour,» added Mr Kruusmann.

On Mr Kruusma’s Facebook account, with final entry dating last week, I read the following: «Feel free to share. Maybe one person, at least, will think twice before exceeding speed limit.» To that, Mr Kruusma has posted a police porter «Don’t speed to your own funeral! This is the greatest mistake in one’s life, not pardoned by loved ones.»

Underneath, some friends proceed ask the following: «And you share this?» or «Smirk, Kruusma you’re sharing wrong pictures». Was Mr Kruusma serious about the message? This, we can no longer ask him.