Truck driver Christian Scholl acquitted of charges against him over the Kerang truck-train collision
Wangaratta truck driver Christian Scholl has been acquitted of charges against him over the Kerang truck-train collision that killed 11 people.
Scholl was charged with 11 counts of culpable driving causing death and eight counts of negligently causing serious injury over the incident, which happened two years ago.
The 50-year-old truck driver said he was “grateful” to the jury for their attention to the evidence, with his attorney saying in his closing argument “the evidence in this case, we submit to you, does not get within a bull’s roar of proving criminal negligence.”
However, five of the passengers injured in the incident are planning to sue the Transport Accident Commission (TAC)—Scholl’s insurer—on the basis of emotional damages.
The rail crossing where the incident has occured has since been upgraded with flashing lights and boom gates.