The judge investigating the German woman who collided in Ibiza against the pilot’s quad has taken statements from three witnesses. The driver was acquitted, but Nieto’s family appealed and the Palma Court reopened the case
Six years after the traffic accident that cost the life of angel grandson on July 26, 2017 on a highway in Ibizathe court that investigates the facts has resumed the case, which the Court of Palma ordered it to reopen in 2018. As OPEN CASE has learned, the investigation and events channel of Prensa Ibérica, the head of the investigative court 2 of Ibiza has taken statement this week to three witnesses of the event.
These are three residents of the island who attended to the thirteen-time motorcycling world champion in the minutes immediately after the impact or who witnessed the moment when the other involved in the accident, one German woman resident in Ibiza, crashed his Fiat 600 against the rear of the quad that Ángel Nieto was driving. This medium has agreed to their statements and the three agree that Nieto, who died days after the event in the hospital as a result of a head trauma“he wore the helmet unbuttoned” at the time of the collision.
“I was going to work and a quad and a Fiat car were circulating in the opposite direction, they were very close together. At one point, the Fiat hit the quad from behind and the driver was ejected,” he declared Tuesday in court. number 2 of Ibiza the only eyewitness of the accident.
“Excessive Speed”
The 59-year-old woman points out, yes, that she had “the feeling that the Fiat (which the investigated German citizen was driving) was very close to the quad. The Fiat was traveling faster than the quad and, at the time of the collision, dragged it and the blow was very strong. Then, the quad collided with the corner wall, the driver’s helmet jumped to one side and the body of the deceased to the other. The helmet flew out“.
The judge must decide whether to close the case or if there is evidence to hold the driver responsible for the death of the thirteen-time motorcycling world champion
Her testimony is relevant to determine the causes of the accident, since before the impact, the witness could see that “the straps of the helmet (of Ángel Nieto) were loose, they were unfastened.” To questions from the pilot’s family lawyer, the woman added her personal impression: “It seemed to me that the speed (of the driver) of the Fiat was excessive.”
tight curve
The second witness who testified this Tuesday, a 67-year-old man who was about 20 meters away when the accident took place, also assures that Nieto “lost his helmet when he was thrown from the quad”, but contradicts the first witness in relation to the speed with which the German driver rammed the pilot: “The quad was coming out of a roundabout, the cars behind they weren’t driving very fast” Among other things, because “the roundabout where the accident occurred is a fairly closed curve.”
The 34-year-old employee of a store near the scene of the accident has provided more information to the judge in the case: “When I arrived, the driver of the quad was on the road and was not wearing his helmet. I did not see anyone remove the helmet from the deceased and I was one of the first to arrive, so I don’t think there was time for anyone to take it off.”
Did not commit a criminal offense
The court already investigated the death of Nieto and took statements from these three witnesses in 2017. Then, it ended filing the case after concluding that the pilot was wearing his helmet unfastened at the time of the accident and that the driver who collided with him “he did not commit any criminal offence”.
That judicial decision was based on the investigations by agents of the Local Police of Santa Eulària (Ibiza) who went to the place of the event that summer morning and the Civil Guard investigations, which concluded that the German citizen, resident on the island and? He was going to pick up his children. and he was in good physical condition at the time of the accident, he did not keep the proper safety distance when he collided from behind with Nieto’s quad: “The woman did not notice the low speed with which the vehicle in front was traveling and overtook it , causing its driver to be thrown forward.”
From the beginning, the driver gave another version of the accident to the agents, to whom she explained that “there was about three meters of distance from the vehicle” of Nieto, but that the pilot “slammed on the brakes” and she could not do anything to avoid the blow.
remains of mud
The woman added that, while she was driving behind the mythical pilot, she could not see the brake lights of her vehicle. The truth is that the report prepared by the Civil Guard, which adds that the accident occurred on a road with “good visibility”noted the existence of numerous defects in Nieto’s quadsuch as that “the rear position light and the brake light were covered by mud” at the time of the accident, “preventing their view by other road users”.
In addition, “the right rear direction indicator was detached from its natural positionworking correctly, but hindering its visibility& rdquor ;, an important failure, according to the investigators, because Nieto was preparing to “turn to the right to access a parking lot” when he was hit by the driver.
head injury
The judge closed the case, concluding that “there are no indications that the result that occurred was produced by an absolute lack of attention to driving on the part of the person involved.” Also, that “the cause of Nieto’s death was a head injury and the omission of the pilot to fasten the helmet concurs directly with said cause”. The magistrate heard the arguments of the driver’s defense, represented by the Mallorcan lawyer Jaime Campanerby accepting that “any imprudence cannot automatically, due to the fact that it has caused injury or death, determine a criminal conviction.”
After the dismissal of the case, the pilot’s family appealed that decision, arguing that the judge had closed it without even taking a statement from the other driver. In 2018, the Palma Court agreed with him and ordered the Ibiza magistrate to resume the investigation.
In 2021, he took a statement from the woman as being investigated for a possible crime of reckless homicide. With this week’s statements, the judge has already carried out all the procedures foreseen. Now he must decide whether to file it again or there is enough evidence to sit the woman on the bench and hold her responsible for the death of the thirteen-time motorcycling world champion.