The Provincial Court of Valencia requires insurers to pay 200,000 euros in compensation to the family and four injured pedestrians
First firm conviction in the Valencian Community for an illegal race with a fatal victim. A 18-year-old, resident of Tavernes de la Valldigna (Valencia), lost his life in February 2017 after being run over and dragged by one of the motorcycles that participated in an unauthorized race on the Realengo de Rafelguaraf road. The Provincial Court of Valencia has now ratified the sentence of two years in prison for the crimes of reckless driving, homicide due to serious recklessness, in ideal competition with four crimes of injury due to serious recklessnessafter the only motorcyclist tried for these events recognized his responsibility in the trial and also accepted the withdrawal of the driving license for motor vehicles for a period of three years and five months.
His opponent in the race could not even be judged since has been in a coma since the day of the accident and the judge agreed to the partial provisional dismissal of this defendant “due to the impossibility of giving a statement as an investigator due to his serious state of health as a result of these events.”
The sentence clarifies that it does not matter if the winding is caused by his motorcycle or that of his competitor since by participating in the race he assumes the risk derived from both
Behind the confession of the condemned, who was 19 years old when he participated in the aforementioned illegal race, the issue in litigation has been in civil liability. The insurers appealed the ruling Criminal Court number seven of Valencia by claiming 50% concurrence of blame between the motorcyclist and the deceased pedestrian and that the responsibility also fall jointly and severally with other participants in the race, including the young man who could not be judged due to his state of health.
However, the judgment of the Court dismisses all their claims and forces the two insurers to pay compensation amounting to nearly 200,000 euros, both to the relatives of the deceased (132,800 euros) and to four pedestrians – three of them minors. age – who were witnessing the race on the sidelines of the road and who were injured by the slipping and dragging of the damaged motorcycles. In addition, as requested by the private prosecution, exercised by the lawyer Juan Ignacio Sole Andreuthey will have to pay default interest, which could double the final amount given the time that has elapsed.
An authorized biker concentration
The ruling considers it proven that on the morning of February 5, 2017 there was a duly authorized concentration of biker clubs in the town of Rafelguaraf. However, once this meeting of bikers was over, many of the attendees moved to a paved road in the municipality – a straight road with good visibility and two traffic lanes – to carry out illegal races there on a road open to traffic.
The convicted, who was 19 years old at the time of the events, put in agreement with the other young man who could not be judged due to his state of health, participated in one of these illegal races. According to the ruling, “driving at excessive speed, endangering the life and physical integrity of both the other drivers who could drive on that road, as well as the large group of people who gathered on both sides of the road to witness the races without any kind of protection”.
In these circumstances the fatal run over of the 18-year-old boy took place. According to the technical report of the Civil Guard, the motorcycle was traveling at 102 kilometers per hour. Likewise, four pedestrians, aged 15, 16, 16 and 22, were injured with different fractures and multiple contusions. Although the sentence cannot conclude that the motorcycle driven by the convicted person ran over the pedestrians on the margins, it clarifies that it does not matter if it was his motorcycle or that of his competitor since both agreed to the race and participated in it.
So the damned”he not only assumed the risk derived from driving his own motorcyclebecause he also accepted and even provoked the reckless driving of his competitor”, clarifies the magistrate. “The danger caused by the other driver is not alien to him, it was the normal consequence of his behavior, when he engaged in a race where this type was foreseeable of accidents”.