Elena Gocmen Rueda
THE young French driver of the car that killed a cyclist in Fuengirola could be charged with reckless homicide after initial tests revealed he had been smoking marijuana.
Although the 20-year-old driver tested negative for alcohol at the scene, subsequent drug tests showed positive for cannabis use.
It also emerged that the driver who had a driving licence valid since last year, was driving “well over” the 30km speed limit on the road shared by cyclists.
Police confirmed the driver had been arrested and remanded to prison pending an investigation into the crime of reckless homicide.
Local residents, visitors and friends of the cyclist who died at the scene on Monday evening, gathered in the coastal city to pay tribute to the victim on Tuesday evening.
The incident occurred at 20.50 on Monday (August 16) on the Paseo Marítimo Rey de España, which was very busy at the time.
Several passers-by who were medical staff gave first aid to the cyclist, assisted by the fire brigade, until the arrival of 061 personnel.
Despite their efforts, they could do nothing to save his life.
The deceased, a Spanish man resident in a village outside Cordoba, was 41 years old and the third of four siblings.
He was with his family enjoying a holiday in Fuengirola and was out for an evening cycle ride when tragedy struck.
Witnesses described how the car hit a kerb and ploughed into the cyclist before landing upside down on top of another car.
Three other vehicles were also damaged as well as street furniture and a palm tree.
The driver of the car, a Mercedes with Polish registration plates, and two other occupants were not injured.
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