A gust of wind stronger than the others that caused the scooter to skid and send it against the guardrail. While the friend who was driving fell on the asphalt, Jacopo Barbarossa, seated behind, had the accursed misfortune of crashing violently against the old traffic divider, of the type that has repeatedly ended up at the center of controversy due to its danger especially in the event of motorcycle accidents. A terrible impact that was fatal to him.
The last moments
These would be the two decisive elements behind the tragic accident that cost the life of the very young student from Cagliari on Saturday evening - he would have turned 18 next August - on the coast road that leads from Quartu to Villasimius. This is confirmed by the testimonies collected at the scene of the accident, but also by the video shot by the dash cam of a taxi driver - Nicola Frongia - who filmed the moments immediately preceding the tragedy. In those frames we see the scooter driven by Nicolò Palmas, with Jacopo Barbarossa sitting behind him, overtake the taxi and another car at no more than 70 kilometers per hour and slow down near a curve. In front of them a motorbike and a scooter on which the other two friends were traveling with whom Palmas and Barbarossa were going to Torre delle Stelle to spend an evening at the beach. A few hundred meters later the scooter crashed into the guardrail. Jacopo Barbarossa was almost trapped under the steel barrier. Nicolò Palmas, on the other hand, fell on the asphalt and this saved his life: he suffered several injuries but is not in danger. Now he is still hospitalized in shock at the Monserrato Polyclinic.
The boy's funeral will be held tomorrow at 4 pm in the Bonaria basilica in Cagliari
The investigations
However, what really happened will be revealed by the investigations by the agents of the Polstrada di Muravera who carried out the findings. What is certain is that at that moment, the mistral was blowing very strongly even along the coast. And that there was no delay in the rescue. The ambulance arrived after ten minutes. The Polstrada does not exclude other hypotheses: a sudden skid, a mechanical breakdown, a sudden obstacle on the road, which up to now would not have been detected anyway.
The taxi driver
«He was lying on the ground, wedged under the traffic island. He was still breathing but did not move, it was clear that it was serious. I told friends who wanted to take off his helmet not to touch it, to wait for help. But unfortunately he didn't make it, he died before my eyes. Nicola Frongia is the president of the cooperative that manages the taxi service in Quartu, reluctantly witnessing the tragedy that claimed the life of Jacopo Barbarossa.
“They weren't running, I can say that with certainty. I was going at 50 kilometers per hour, the scooter passed me and it must have been at maybe 60 or so. An appropriate speed for that stretch of road. There was a strong wind at that moment, a lateral gust could have caused the scooter to skid, or in tackling the curve they went too wide. What I know is that they weren't running, they weren't being careless. It was a terrible misfortune, which unfortunately I will never forget.'
All the details in the articles by Raffaele Serreli and Massimo Ledda on L'Unione Sarda on newsstands
abbonati.unionesarda.it/Edicola