Por María Izquierdo 
The trial against the driver who fatally ran over three other truck drivers on the A-62 in January 2021, near Tordesillas, has been suspended, as reported by legal sources to Europa Press.
The Valladolid Court was scheduled to hold the trial from this Monday, June 23, which has already been suspended twice in recent months.
The events being judged date back to January 2021 when the three deceased were participating in extinguishing the flames that had ignited in several tires of the heavy vehicle driven by one of them.
The accused, the truck driver M.A.H.C, who was 59 years old at the time of the tragic accident, faces a five-year prison sentence, along with the withdrawal of his driver’s license for six years, as the author of three counts of homicide due to gross negligence.
In terms of civil liability, the public prosecution is seeking compensation from the driver and the insurance company, Plus Ultra, totaling over 979,713 euros, including more than 312,000 euros for the family of the deceased truck driver Alberto R.M., aged 43; 320,203 for the widow and family of Antonio N.A, aged 51, and 346,699 for the wife and family of the other victim, Pedro A. D.S, aged 35, as reported by legal sources to Europa Press.
The upcoming trial will analyze the events of January 18, 2021, when at around 07:35 hours, the truck driven by Antonio N.A. on the A-62, at kilometer 152.787, in Tordesillas, suffered a mechanical failure that caused several tires of the semitrailer to catch fire. This forced him to stop on the shoulder, occupying the entire area and part of the right lane, and to signal his stop with all four hazard lights and short-range lighting.
Two other truck drivers passing by also stopped their heavy vehicles to assist their colleague in extinguishing the fire. Pedro A. D.S. and Alberto R.M. also parked their trucks, properly signaled, in front of the distressed vehicle and began to extinguish the fire while standing in the right lane of the road, one of the four lanes.
«DISTRACTION AND/OR INATTENTION»
It was at this moment that another truck passed by at a speed of between 78 and 81 kilometers per hour, with the driver, according to the public prosecution, failing to notice the presence of the disabled truck due to «great distraction and/or inattention in driving», despite the smoke, flames, and activated emergency lights.
As a result, the accused did not reduce his speed until about twenty meters before the impact point and at the last moment made an evasive maneuver to avoid the collision, but ultimately could not prevent the impact with the left corner of the burning truck’s semitrailer and the running over of the three truck drivers involved in firefighting.
At the time of the fatal accident, around 07:35 hours, it was nighttime with light fog that did not hinder visibility, and the road had four lanes of traffic and two usable shoulders, circumstances that, according to the prosecutor, did not influence the distraction and/or inattention of the accused.
Another truck driver also traveling in the right lane with his heavy vehicle noticed the disabled truck and moved to the second lane, reducing speed. However, he could not avoid a lump in the road that he initially thought was tire debris—it turned out to be the bodies of two of the deceased—although later, when he stopped to rest, he was surprised to find blood stains and biological remains on the front lower part of his vehicle, prompting him to immediately report the incident to the Emergency Services 112.