Driver Kills Teen, Sues Parents For Damage to his Car

[Coop77]

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=4191775

Driver Who Killed Teenager Sues Parents Over Damage to His Car
By HAROLD HECKLE
The Associated Press

MADRID, Spain

A speeding motorist who killed a teenage cyclist is suing the boy's parents over damage to his luxury car, the government says.

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.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Amorphic]

thats kind of a tough call.

you can argue the kid should have been wearing reflective gear etc or you can argue that (obviously) the driver is 100% at fault for excessively speeding,

i'll lean that the driver is at fault and that he shouldnt be suing. i'll also say that kids should be wearing reflective gear and staying off the roads.

[d smooth]

too many miles over the speed limit decrease reaction time

[goodcents]

If he was driving close to the speed limit he should get that plus mental damages for having to run into him. I get sick of seeing kids parent crying that their kid got run over for playing in the road

[qualityclrk1]

for some reason i think this story is fabricated lol......in Spain and he was going 100mph? why would they report it as 100mph....shouldn't it be kilometers? Speed Limit was 55 MPH? i don't think so.... and i don't see any guy in the US going 100 mph hitting a teenager and the courts saying both were at fault....if it was on anything but an interstate, that driver should never see his license again...

[qualityclrk1]

and that driver is just a piece of shit, how do u sue the family? its not the families fault their 17 year old son was riding his bike in the street...it says their son was not breaking the law, so i don't how that guy has any belief he's going to get any money back...sorry buddy, but ur insurance should cover it- if not, ur rich ass needs to get better coverage

[kfrost06]

well put qualityclrk1, my thoughts exactly.

[Coop77]

Even if the kid was partially at fault, it's pretty classless to sue grieving parents.