The Palma Court has exonerated the woman who fatally ran over the pilot Ángel Nieto in Ibiza in 2017 and closed the case definitively. The Court understands that the driver may have committed a minor offense, but affirms that other circumstances occurred in the accident that caused the death of the pilot. With these arguments, it rejects the appeal presented by Ángel Nieto's relatives against a previous ruling by an investigative court in Ibiza that also exonerated the driver in a ruling that was made public in September of last year.
Ángel Nieto died in Ibiza on August 3, 2017 as a result of injuries caused a few days before in a traffic accident. The pilot was traveling by quad on a road on the island on July 26 when he was hit by a vehicle, a Fiat 600, driven by a German citizen. The motorcyclist died days later in a hospital on the island as a result of a sudden worsening after a severe head injury.
The ruling of the Palma Court now confirms the previous acquittal that the Ibiza courts had decided. Consider that the woman was not traveling at excessive speed and in fact was traveling at a limit well below the 90 kilometers per hour that was allowed on the road where the accident occurred.
There is no evidence that the woman had consumed drugs or alcohol and the sentence clearly indicates that it was possible that the woman did not realize that Nieto hit the brakes because the brake lights of the quad were covered in dirt and dried mud. . Several witnesses to the accident stated that the pilot had his helmet unfastened when he was traveling on the quad.
The ruling closes the case definitively after two previous rulings by the Ibiza courts. A judge decided to close the case, but the family members filed an appeal considering that the investigation concluded prematurely. After new investigations and the taking of witness statements, the court closed the case again, understanding that there was no recklessness on the part of the woman. However, the family appealed again and now it has been the Court of Palma that has closed the judicial process definitively.
The death of Ángel Nieto caused a huge commotion in Ibiza, where the pilot had a residence that he went to regularly. Hundreds of riders gathered on the island and in many other parts of Spain on the day of the funeral to say goodbye to the 13-time world motorcycling champion.
