Taxi Driver Online

Poole taxi driver killed on A35 had taken cocaine, inquest hears



A TAXI driver killed in a car crash on the A35 was speeding, had taken cocaine and was not wearing a seatbelt, an inquest was told.

Farook Ali Mosoddar, aged 46, from Yarmouth Road, Poole, died after his Peugeot 307 estate taxi collided with a Ford Mondeo on the A35 three miles west of Winterbourne Abbas.

The father-of-four, who worked for Bournemouth-based United Taxis, was killed almost instantly at 10.45pm on November 4 last year, an inquest in Dorchester was told.

Michael Johnston, West Dorset coroner, said: “Mr Mosoddar was working and had taken a fare from Poole to Torquay.

“The passenger, Jiali Chen describes the journey happening at a high speed.”

Miss Chen said: “The weather was not good, it was raining and foggy. We travelled at a very fast speed, sometimes 90mph to 100mph, and I did not feel safe because of the weather conditions.”

Fredrick Wareham, the driver of the blue Ford Mondeo estate, sustained critical injuries and spent five days in Dorset County Hospital.

He said: “It all happened so fast.

“I didn’t see any headlights coming towards me.

“The approaching car was sideways on. The noise was enormous and there was an incredible industrial smell.

“I remember feeling a searing pain down my left side.”

Simon Rossiter, who had been overtaken by Mr Mosoddar minutes before the collision, said: “The taxi went over the hatchings at the end of the dual carriageway and cut me up.

“I was doing about 60mph and the other car was going at about 90mph.

“When I came round the bend I saw hazard lights and realised there had been an accident and that it was the car that had just overtaken me.”

PC John Hayward, a collision investigator for Dorset Police, said: “It was clear from the positioning of the driver’s seatbelt that it had not been worn at the time.”

He added: “It seems the driver may have tried to over-correct his steering while negotiating the bends at the top of the Three Sisters hills and spun out of control.”

A toxicologist’s report revealed traces of cocaine in Mr Mosoddar’s system.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mr Johnston said: “For reasons we don’t know for certain the taxi lost control and spun into the other lane.”

source: http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Have I lost the plot ? What is a 46 year old Father of four doing, working whilst taking Cocaine. Stop the world, I want to get off.

"Coke can make users feel on top of the world, wide-awake, confident and on top of their game, but some people become over-confident on it, taking careless risks and some become paranoid and aggressive. Cocaine can raise the body’s temperature, make the heart beat faster and reduce feelings of hunger" source 'Frank'

Need I say more? I think there is probably more of this going on in this trade than we know It's a stupid and dangerous thing to do but with drivers needing to work longer hours they will take risks

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

To be fair to the driver - difficult, I know - saying that there were traces of cocaine found doesn't really tell us much other than that he'd taken cocaine at some point. It doesn't necessarily mean he was off his face on it, for example. The word 'traces' probably means that there was very little found, and I think cocaine can hang around the body for quite a long time.

And it's not as if there's specified limits for drugs which say, like with alcohol, that someone could be said to be three times over the limit, or whatever.

Thus it's difficult to test for 'driving while unfit' because of drugs, and as a consequence that's probably why there are relatively few prosecutions.

Having said that, even if the cocaine wasn't affecting the driver's performance at the time of the accident he was still clearly a grade A idiot.

But luckily his own life was the only one claimed by the accident.

I wonder if it was pointed out that because this chap was a taxi driver he was exempt from wearing his seatbelt. Of course if you are going to drive at those silly speeds perhaps he shoul;d have been wearing it.

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Grandad,

At the end of the day its no different to him having alcohol in his system. Can't blame the long working hours on that IMHO

Mmmmm an Asian driver taking drugs?? I thought they didn't take them due to their religion??

Not all asians have the same religion.

Not all religious people follow all the rules.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

The guy lived in Poole but was Bournemouth licensed driver. Not his car either he was the night driver so I am told. I understand he may have been Turkish or Kurd etc. The comments by readers on the web site following the article illustrate how poorly the trade is sometimes viewed.

Where did I read about Somali drivers in Cardiff taking Khat or whatever its called to stay awake. If I feel I need a Red Bull I realise its time to go home!

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Nobody told me to use my initiative. To err is human to arr is pirate.

I think most towns probably have at least 1 driver who takes drugs of one sort or another to get them through their shifts there has been plenty here over the years mostly night drivers but the way some of them view it is if the punters can party why can't they a little

We have even had drivers in the past dealing drugs to their punters and possibly fellow drivers this trade is a magnet for those who think the cash earnings and access to the clubbers is perfect cover for illegal activities

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector