The experts were the final witnesses heard on Monday in the trial of a man, identified only as Sebastian M. under Polish privacy laws, who is accused of causing the fatal crash near Piotrków Trybunalski in central Poland in September 2023.
Bogusław Śleziak, a member of the road accident reconstruction team, told the District Court in Piotrków Trybunalski that the BMW was travelling at between 315 and 329 kph.
The Kia was travelling at about 140 kph with its cruise control switched on.
The experts said their analysis showed that the Kia had remained in the middle lane and had not changed its course immediately before the collision.
Their findings contradict the defence's claim that the Kia suddenly moved into the BMW's path.
The reconstruction team based its conclusions on physical evidence found on the road, digital data retrieved from both vehicles, dashcam footage of the crash and recordings from cameras along the A1 motorway.
According to the experts, the BMW hit the Kia with its front right side, striking the Kia's rear left side. They said the damage to both vehicles was consistent with their findings.
Śleziak, who said he had worked on road accidents for 25 years, described the speeds recorded in the case as unprecedented in his professional experience.
The experts also said the BMW had repeatedly exceeded 300 kph while travelling on the A1 on the day of the crash.
They rejected findings contained in a private report commissioned by the defence, saying its author had made errors in estimating the BMW’s wheelbase and in measuring braking marks and tire width, among other parameters.
They also rejected the report’s claim that the Kia had been travelling on a temporary spare tyre.
Prosecutor Izabela Knapik said the experts' conclusions were unequivocal.
The court rejected further evidentiary motions from the defence, saying they would prolong the proceedings, and closed the evidentiary phase of the trial.
Both sides are due to deliver their closing arguments on October 7.
The prosecution said it would seek the maximum sentence available for the alleged offence.
Defence lawyer Katarzyna Hebda did not disclose what sentence the defence would seek or what arguments it would present.
Sebastian M. remains in pre-trial detention. The court has extended his detention until February 1, citing the likelihood that he committed the alleged offence, the severity of the potential sentence and the risk of flight.
The crash happened on September 16, 2023, near the village of Sierosław on the A1 motorway, on the carriageway towards the southern city of Katowice.
The BMW collided with a Kia, which hit the crash barriers and caught fire. The three people in the Kia—a married couple and their 5-year-old son—died at the scene.
Sebastian M. was brought back to Poland from the United Arab Emirates in May last year after fleeing there following the crash.
He has been held in pre-trial detention since then. If convicted of causing the fatal road accident, he faces up to eight years in prison.
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Source: IAR/PAP