Zur falschen Zeit am falschen Ort – Verkehrsunfall oder nicht?
摘要
The death of a racing biker on a country road is reported, which was initially thought to be the result of a too close overtaking maneuver by a tractor and trailer. The autopsy did not reveal a traumatic cause of death but a myocardial infarction due to a so-called muscle bridge in the ramus circumflexus of the left coronary artery and giant cell myocarditis. Under the assumption that overtaking too closely could have been the trigger for cardiac arrhythmia in a previously damaged heart, the district court brought charges of negligent homicide against the driver of the tractor; however, using the data (heart rate, speed, distance) from a bike board computer worn at the time of the incident, the racing cyclist’s acute heart failure could be traced back to the physical exertion documented very shortly before death and the coronary anomaly with myocarditis. There was neither a traffic accident nor a connection between death and the overtaking maneuver.