He Contentious-Administrative Court number 2 of Cordova has condemned Córdoba City Council to compensate with 975.68 euros plus VAT and payment of legal costs to a driver, FMRN, who was involved in a multiple collision on December 12, 2021 in the intersection of Agrupación Córdoba avenue and Virgen de Linares and Doctor Manuel Villegas streetsfrom Córdoba, attributed to failure of the traffic light group in the area. The driver filed the appeal after the City Council’s rejection of his claim for property liability due to negative silence, in relation to the damage caused to his vehicle. The City Council will now abide by the sentence without appealing it.
Three vehicles involved
Three passenger cars were involved in the multiple collision, one of them the plaintiff’s, and it apparently occurred because the traffic light group was off, alternating its normal operation with flashing (intermittent amber) and off. According to the police report, which the judge assumes, there were two technicians from the traffic light maintenance company, Etralux SA, manipulating the traffic light control cabinet at the intersection, which were also captured by a camera in the area. For their part, the agents determine that the accident occurred due to the failure of the traffic lights, “with none of the three vehicles involved having direct responsibility.”
At the trial hearing, the defense of the Etralux company alleged that the accident had occurred due to the fault of the drivers involved, who did not respect the vertical signs that affected them, in the absence of traffic light signs. However, the judge believes that the responsibility must be attributed to the malfunction of the traffic light installation, Therefore, the appeal is upheld, without the possibility of directly condemning the maintenance company, since this entity was not sued at the time.
Comply with the sentence
The City Council, for its part, although the cause of the accident comes from the malfunction of the traffic light group, under municipal ownership and jurisdiction, considers that Who must be responsible for the consequences of the incident is the Etralux entity. For this reason, it asked the judge to dismiss the contentious-administrative appeal or, if ruled in the opposite direction, to establish the possibility of exercising the return or repetition action by the City Council of Córdoba, something that the court rejected.
Once The Consistory abides by the sentencehas ordered the head of the Mobility Department to proceed to claim from Etralux the amount established in the ruling, in accordance with what is stipulated in the contracting file.