The Ciaran Tobin Case: The Times They Are a-Changin'

Friday, May 9, 2008

The Times They Are a-Changin'

It seems that Hungary finally means what it says: the new tough laws to crack down on serious traffic rules violators came into force on May 1, 2008 threatening drivers with fines of up to HUF 300,000 (about 935 Irish Pounds).
Index.hu reports a driver speeding at 134 km/h in a 50km/h zone was handed out the maximum fine allowed under the law. Recent changes in regulations mean drivers have very little chance to get away with breaking the fundemental rules of road safety. As of May 1, that is.

Hungary has been notorious for enacting laws that then nobody enforces (be it traffic rules or smoking laws), but now there is some hope that Bob Dylan's 1964 message finally hit home in the Carpathian Basin.

We'll wait and see. And will report on the progress.

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Summary UPDATED

UPDATE:
On January 13, justice was served. Ciaran Tobin started his jail term in a Hungarian prison cell. As agreed by the Hungarian and Irish governments, he will be allowed, upon his request, to complete his prison sentence in Ireland.

With this, our 13-year struggle for justice has come to an end, although the pain of losing our children will stay with us forever.

At this time, we would like to thank to all the people, known and unknown, who have fought for justice with us. Thank you.

--
On April 9, 2000, Ciaran Tobin, of Sutton, Ireland, ran over and killed 1.5 year old Petra and 4.5 year old Marci Zoltai on the sidewalk at a Zebra crossing in Leányfalu, Hungary as he was racing at 80km/h in a 50km/h zone.

Although sentenced to 3 years in prison, he made his way out of the country, and escaped justice until 2014. Ireland refused to surrender him for years and neither carried out the sentence on its own land.

This site is a reminder that it took almost 14 years to serve justice in this tragic case.

The site is also a tribute to two innocent and beautiful children, Marci and Petra, who were robbed from all of us at 3.45pm, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, April 9, 2000. We love you and will not forget you.