The dead guy dented my car: Spanish lawsuit

Catching up on news you may have missed during the recent election campaign....

An AP article that appeared in the January 26 issue of the Chicago Sun-Times described a suit filed in Spain by the driver of a luxury car. Tomas Delgado's Audi A8 was damaged in a collision with a bicycle ridden by 17-year old Enaitz Iriondo. Delgado was cruising along at 100 mph at the time. The car was dented. Iriondo was killed.

But -- apparently because the bicyclist wasn't wearing a helmet or reflective clothing at the time he was run over by Sr. Delgado's Audi -- Delgado sued the dead bicyclist's parents. According to the article, Delgado told the Spanish newspaper El Pais, "It's the only way I have to claim my money back."

The accident happened in August 2004. Delgado's suit was filed in late 2006. But, apparently, almost as soon as this story hit the wires, the suit was dropped. This January 30 AP story cited a Spanish National Radio report that advised, "Delgado's lawyer announced that his client decided to ditch the case because of media pressure." The lawyer "spoke outside the court in the small town of Haro in northern Spain to a crowd of several hundred people," according to the AP story.

The bicyclist's family was said to be "very happy" about the decision to drop the suit.