Ministry of transport ordered to pay lorry driver more than 44,000 euros following accident caused by a sinkhole

The High Court in Spain has ordered the ministry of transport to pay almost 44,400 euros in compensation for the accident suffered by a lorry travelling along a service road next to the A-7 in Níjar (Almería) with a load of 18,500 litres of liquefied gas. The vehicle overturned after sinking into the ground where damage had been detected as a result of a dana that occurred in the area almost three months before the accident.

In its ruling, the administrative court upholds the appeals of the transport company and the insurer, considering that the administration is liable as it considers that the only cause of the accident was the poor state of the road, which was affected by the heavy storms that fell in the area on 13 September 2019.

The court ruling states that the Almeria roads department had detected "significant damage" caused by the drought, so emergency repair work was requested on the A-7, the A-92 and the N340.

In this regard, it states that the damage located at kilometre 482.150 of the A-7 towards Barcelona, where the lorry overturned and the 62-year-old driver was slightly injured, still remained despite the fact that the contract for the repair work had been awarded on 29 November, five days before the accident. Similarly, the company in charge of monitoring the section had last passed the site on 28 November.

The court considers that there is insufficient basis to hold the lorry driver responsible for the accident, since although there was a landslide on the left-hand side of the road and there were cones marking it, the road was still open in both directions, so the lorry driver tried to steer as far as possible to the right-hand side in order to pass over the road. It was at this time that the ground “gave way” and the vehicle overturned “as the tractor unit sank and the liquid load in the tanker shifted". The tanker remained in the area for several days until a specialist company was able to remove the load

“The only proven cause identified as the determining factor in the accident is the poor condition of the road, which was not in a safe enough state to allow the passage of heavy vehicles such as the one involved in the accident,” summarises the national court. It also pointed out that the access “had not been closed” and that there was “no warning signage” other than the cones marking the passage area.

Consequently, the court considers that a causal link has been established between the conditions in which the public service was provided, i.e. the state of the road, and the loss for which compensation is claimed in respect of damage which "the appellants are not obliged to bear".

The clean-up operation involved two cranes to remove the vehicle. While the tractor unit was removed, the cargo trailer underwent special operations to prevent leaks and spillage. As a preventive measure, a 600-metre cordon was set up and the A-7 was closed from kilometre 487 to 471 in both directions.

The incident also forced Níjar council to activate its municipal emergency plan, while the Andalusian regional government declared a level zero situation in the emergency plan due to the risk of accidents in the transport of hazardous goods by road and rail in the region.