‘Persecuted’ driver drops damages case

Speeding motorist Toma Delgado has dropped his ‘fix my car’ case against the family of the cyclist he killed while travelling at 100mph in his Audi.

The passes on Spanish National Radio reports that Delgado’s lawyer announced that his client dropped the case because of “media pressure.”

The story was headline news in Spain - and has , too - leading to Delgado becoming a national hate figure. The Spanish media, and TV chat shows, have debated Delgado’s damages case at great length.

Feelings against Delgado have been running high, with hundreds of protesters gathering outside a court-room in Haro in northern Spain.

Delgado had been driving about 100 mph - or, in some media reports, 70mph (an mph and kph mix-up?) - when he hit the 17-year old cyclist in 2004.

Soon after the crash, a regional court exhonerated Delgado after finding both parties at fault, recording that the cyclist - riding to a camp site just after the sun had set - was not wearing reflective clothing or a helmet. A polystyrene cycle helmet is designed for crashes to a kerb from one metre at speeds of 12mph or less.