On May 17th, 2017, Nicky Hayden was out riding his bicycle, near the Adriatic Coast. He was struck by car in an intersection close to the Misano highway.

The incident turned out to be fatal one and shocked the entire motorcycle industry, as Nicky Hayden died five days later in a hospital. Since then, the accident has been under investigation by the local prosecutor, and now the results of that forensic investigation have been released to the public.

The prosecutor reconstructed the full picture of the incident through statements made by the driver, video footage and eyewitnesses. The investigation has found fault on both sides of the crash – assigning 30% of the blame to Nicky Hayden (for running the stop sign), and 70% of the blame to the driver (for excessive speed).

Examining the evidence the public prosecutor’s investigator Orlando Omicini determined that the 30-year-old driver of the Peugeot 206 struck Hayden while driving just over 70 km/h, and the speed limit for this road was 50 km/h. He also determined that Hayden failed to stop at the stop sign and continued riding his bicycle at about 20 km/h along (when he was struck). The combination of those two events led to the collision, which ultimately cost Nicky his life.

Investigator Omicini assigns more blame to the car driver. If the Peugeot 206 was driving within the limits, Hayden would have passed in front of him, and there would have been no accident. The case will now head into an Italian criminal court, where lawyers will discuss a fatal crash. The driver could carry a sentence of five to ten years in jail, as well as civil penalties. Everything will depend on the outcome of the criminal case.

Unfortunately, nothing will bring back Nicky Hayden, who is missed by his army of fans.

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