Carlos Silva Santiago insists “there was no running over”
Media outlets today are full of the story of a PSD MP well over the alcohol limit who allegedly ‘ran over a child’s foot’ as the boy used a pedestrian crossing in Vila Nova de Paiva. Indeed, many of them use the word “atropelamento”, which translates into a “running over”.
But Carlos Silva Santiago, president of the Viseu district PSD, and a former mayor of Sernancelhe, has taken to Facebook today to stress “there was no running over.
“It was a huge scare”, he explains. “And my first concern was Tiago” (the nine-year-old boy whose foot appears to have come off the worse in this incident at 5.20pm on November 8).
Silva Santiago admits that he was driving over the permitted alcohol limit.
“On the day (the accident) happened, I was returning from lunch, perfectly conscious (sic) and at no time did I realise that I might be over the permitted alcohol limit, which unfortunately I was.
“But this has nothing to do with what unfortunately happened, since it was Tiago who crashed into my car sideways as I was starting to drive, and not any kind of running over, as has been reported.
“Of course I do not mean to belittle what happened, or excuse my behaviour.
“I will answer for what I did like any other citizen. The most important thing, thank God, is that Tiago is fine”.
And no one would disagree with that.
The PSD MP adds that he has been following Tiago’s condition on a daily basis, through the boy’s parents, and is “available for whatever they need”.
But, according to certain media reports, there is an amount of confusion over Silva Santiago’s exact alcohol level – and indeed regarding his interpretation of events.
A first breath-test reading, apparently, put him at the ‘criminal level’ of 1.35g/ litre.
The MP asked for a new test to be taken, and this reduced the level to 0.96g/ litre – still a ‘very serious offence’ which required the payment of an on-the-spot fine of €500, but not a criminal offence, explains Correio da Manhã.
As for the account of Tiago ‘crashing sideways’ into the MP’s car, CM maintains that the child refutes this, saying Silva Santiago “did not stop, and because of this he ended up with his foot stuck under the wheel of the vehicle”.
It is a version, says the paper, that has been “confirmed by a witness (who was) at the scene”.
Whatever happened, Silva Santiago has paid his on-the-spot fine, and now waits to learn what length of driving ban he may face (the alcohol level of 0.96g/l could see him taken off the road for anything from two months to two years, says CM).
