http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080125/od_nm/spain_driver1_dc_1

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish driver who collided with a cyclist is suing the dead youth's family $29,300 for the damage the impact of his body did to his luxury car, a Spanish newspaper reported on Friday.

Businessman Tomas Delgado says 17-year-old Enaitz Iriondo caused $20,500 of damage to his Audi A8 in the fatal 2004 crash in La Rioja region, the El Pais newspaper reported.

Delgado, who has faced no criminal charges for the incident, wants a further 6,000 euros to cover the cost of hiring another vehicle while his car was being repaired, El Pais said.

The youth had been cycling alone at night without reflective clothing or a helmet, according to a police report cited by El Pais.

His family won 33,000 euros compensation from Delgado's insurance company after the firm acknowledged he had been driving at excessive speed and this could have contributed to the incident, El Pais reported.

"I'm also a victim in all of this, you can't fix the lad's problems, but you can fix mine," Delgado told the newspaper, ahead of a January 30 legal decision on his suit.

The family said they had previously pitied Delgado for the guilt he must feel at killing their son but were now disgusted that his greatest concern appeared to be money.

"This was the final straw, a kick in the teeth," the youth's mother Rosa Trinidad told El Pais.

 

Well, this guy certaintly deserves the single digit salute. Big time.

 

What will be worse than this is if he actually wins this lawsuit.

 

I hope he gets told to shove his luxury car up his arse and fuck off while he's doing it. What a scumbag.

 

Where's this guys address? I'll give him somthing more to worry about than a dink in his car.

The fucker...

 

That dingleberry should retain the judge who sued the dry cleaning business over a pair of pants as his defense attorney.

 

In the States, a guy like that might actually win. It's all logic and numbers, so the "WTF were you doing driving 100MPH" doesn't always work in court hence why the guy who fell through the roof while robbing a house won for his injuries. They ignore the fact that he shouldn't have been there in the first place and take is as the isolated injury case.

 

If the bicyclist was as negligent as the driver was claiming then the drivers insurance should cover the damage to his car. Since the insurance company didn't cover the damage to the car (I assume) he doesn't seem to have much legal ground to sue the family.

 

The cyclist should have known better, he should have aimed his flying body towards a tree instead of a luxury car...the nerve!

 

Granted, I don't know how car inusrance works in Spain. But if this happened in the U.S., even if the driver was found to be completely at fault for the collision, his insurance would still pay for the damage to his car (minus any deductible).

It's good to know the U.S. doesn't have a monopoly on assholes who sue for frivolous reasons.

 

Oh, of course not  

 

Why the rolleyes?

 

I think it's intarweb sarcasm.

That or there's something on the ceiling. It could be Ceiling Cat.

 

Well in all honesty I think that's a bit of a low blow for the family

 

oh yeah that guy is really feeling guilty. so guilty he made himself the victim in his mind.

i can only hope it fails and somehow has to pay more to the boys family.

 

Cyclists are notorious for not obeying traffic laws and causing accidents in my area. But normally if there is an accident because of a negligent cyclist, the cyclist goes on his merry way and the driver's insurance goes up... or the Cyclist goes splat and the Driver's insurance goes up. It is very hard to keep a cyclist from fleeing a seen for an accident he caused.

I witnessed a Cyclist blow through a red light by driving between cars and he struck a pedestrian in the crosswalk right in front of me. I appeared in court and they won because of my testimony. Of course they can't *do* much to him like take his cycling licence away... If you are going to cycle in traffic on public roads, you should have a licence and insurance and follow the traffic laws.

But this guy was speeding, so he fails.

 

 

I don't know, I think it's kinda funny. I mean, he's a dick, sure. But I love his audacity. I'm picturing him at home in the dark, nursing a stiff liquor drink, muttering to himself about how he's right...