Ángel Nieto rear-shunt driver not responsible for his death, judge rules
Ángel Nieto rear-shunt driver not responsible for his death, judge rules
A JUDGE has thrown out the case against the driver involved in the fatal accident in which MotoGP legend Ángel Nieto was killed whilst riding his quad.
Nieto, 70, famous for winning 13 world championships and superstitiously calling his feat '12+1', was on the hired quad in Santa Gertrudis, Ibiza, where he was on holiday, not far from where he lives, in Santa Eulària.
He was placed in an induced coma because of serious head injuries, and died during an emergency operation to remove a build-up of fluid on his brain.
A sole witness to the crash said a 38-year-old German woman, resident in Ibiza, had been driving too close to the quad and struck it from behind.
The witness, a Portuguese woman, claimed the other driver's Fiat was 'very close' to the back of the quad and 'did not notice how slowly it was moving'.
Nieto's family filed a private prosecution against the German lady, holding her solely responsible for the fatal accident.
The driver herself insisted she had kept the requisite three-metre distance from Nieto, and that he had braked suddenly and she was unable to stop in time.
Now, a judge in the Balearic Islands has found that the driver 'did not commit any criminal offence'.
He said she had 'at worst' been guilty of 'a minor breach of road traffic law', given that strict liability applies to rear shunts in all cases, irrespective of circumstances.
Additionally, the court referred to the Guardia Civil report which revealed Nieto's helmet had been undone and had come off before he hit the ground – a factor which is likely to have contributed to his death.
