Driver kills teen, sues parents
MADRID, Spain (AP) - January 25, 2008 Enaitz Iriondo, 17, died instantly in August 2004 when
businessman Tomas Delgado's Audi A8 crashed into him at 100 mph
near Haro in northern Spain, an Interior Ministry traffic report
said. The speed limit was 55 mph.
Iriondo was not wearing reflective clothing or a helmet, the
ministry report said. As the sun had set when he crossed the path
of Delgado's car from a side road, a regional court found both
parties at fault and closed the case, the report said.
Delgado, whose insurance company paid Iriondo's parents $48,500
in compensation for their son's life, filed a suit in late 2006 to
recover $29,400 in damages to his car and car rental costs, the
ministry traffic report said.
"It's the only way I have to claim my money back," Delgado was
quoted as saying by the newspaper El Pais, which first reported the
story on Friday. El Pais said a ruling was expected next week.
Iriondo's parents were shocked.
"It's the final straw, a stab in the back," Iriondo's mother,
Rosa Trinidad said, according to El Pais. "Before the lawsuit we
thought the poor guy would find it hard to live the rest of his
life with the thought of having caused our son's death.
The European Union's statistics office says Spain recorded 113
traffic fatalities per million inhabitants in 2004. The average for
the 25-nation bloc was 95. In 2006, 3,016 people died on Spain's
roads.