Taxi Driver Online

Kind of thing that could happen to any driver, by the looks of it

Taxi driver guilty over crash which killed pensioner

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/cri ... pensioner/

A taxi driver who knocked down a pedestrian has been found guilty of causing death by careless driving.


New Road section of Stourbridge Ring Road (Image: Google/Express & Star)

Moqadas Hafeez was warned he could be jailed.

Tragedy struck for 91-year-old Ukraine-born Mychajilo Dudok, aged 91, as he crossed the three-lane New Road – part of the inner Stourbridge ring road – at lunchtime on September 22 2017, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard

He was hit by a VW Passat driven by the 39-year-old defendant who had not seen him until it was too late but claimed the victim had fallen back off the pavement into the path of his car.

But Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting, said Hafeez was lying in a bid to avoid responsibility for the death and explained: “As the pedestrian crossed the third lane and got close to completing the crossing he was hit by the taxi.”

Motorist Joan Lester was in the middle lane alongside the taxi which was on the inside track closest to the town centre, as they travelled round a right-hand curve.

She told the jury: “As I turned I saw an older man crossing the road. He was stooped over and moving very slowly.

"When I first saw him he was in the first of the three lanes he had to cross.

"I said to my husband: ‘I don’t know if he is going to make it.’

“I thought I was going to have to stop but as I started to slow he cleared my lane and moved into the third lane where there was collision between him and another car.

"I had started to slow but the other car had not done anything.

"The man stepped into its lane and it hit him.”

The prosecution insisted Hafeez, of Albert Street, Lye, could have stopped in time to avoid hitting the pensioner.

He maintained he did not see the victim until the man had crossed the road.

The defendant claimed: “The first time I saw him he was on the pavement. I didn’t see him cross the road.

"As I approached him he fell onto the wing of the car, hit the wing mirror and fell onto the ground. I got out and asked him if he was OK. He said: ‘I am OK and want to go home’.”

Mr Spratt said: “There was no obstruction and no vehicle between you and him. You were distracted in some way and were not paying proper attention to the road in front of you and collided with the man as he was crossing the road.”

Experts estimated the taxi was travelling at about 28mph in a 30mph zone and had braked to 18mph when it hit the victim who was taken to hospital but died from multiple injuries that included a badly broken right leg.

Sgt Adam Green, a senior forensic expert in the Police Collision Investigation Unit said: “If the pedestrian had fallen, or even stumbled, I would expect a different pattern of damage on the taxi because he would not have been moving in the same way as when walking.

“The collision occurred as a result of the driver failing to react as the pedestrian crossed the carriageway. There was sufficient time for the driver to bring his vehicle to a halt.”

Hafeez was unanimously found guilty and remanded on bail for a pre sentence report until February 13.

Judge Simon Ward told him: “I will then decide what is the appropriate sentence but do not rule out prison.”

New Road section of Stourbridge Ring Road (Image: Google/Express & Star)

An odd road in that kind of environment - three-lane one-way by the looks of it.

Indeed.

Down here we would have half a dozen crossing in that in a stretch like that.

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IDFIMH

Yes, very odd - looking on Streetview, there's a light-controlled crossing about 150 yards or so behind the photograph.

In the direction of the photo, it must be pushing half a mile until the next crossing point, beyond the stretch of road that can be seen in the photo, and after the ring road has curved round to the right.

There's a speed camera just up from the photo, and some railings at various points to keep pedestrians off the road, but not much other than that.

Wouldn't come as big surprise if there's more provision for pedestrians crossing after this and/or other traffic calming measures.

[quote="StuartW"]Kind of thing that could happen to any driver, by the looks of it

But how many of us would tell a pack of lies to the court/police ?

precisely we can all make mistakes but not everyone seems to be able to take responsibility or their own actions

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

Taxi driver avoids jail after fatal ring road crash

https://www.bromsgroveadvertiser.co.uk/ ... oad-crash/


Image: West Midlands Police/Bromsgrove Advertiser

A TAXI driver who killed a 91-year-old man when he ploughed into him as he crossed Stourbridge's busy ring road has avoided jail time but has been told he will never drive a cab again.

Ukrainian born Mychajilo Dudok was hit by the VW Passat as he crossed the New Road stretch of the ring road on his way to the shops and he died just hours later from his injuries.

Moqadas Hafeez maintained the pensioner had fallen into the path of his car while he was en route to collect a fare but Judge Simon Ward at Wolverhampton Crown Court told him that was just not true.

Sentencing the 39-year-old father-of-three, who was described as a "model citizen", the judge said: "He was there to be seen. He did not fall onto your car - you hit him as he was crossing the road."

The judge said he had no doubts Hafeez was a "decent man" who worked hard for his family and had an unblemished driving record and, for those reasons, he would not send him straight to prison.

Hafeez, of Albert Street, Lye, denied causing the death of the "much-missed" pensioner by careless driving but was convicted by a jury at the end of his trial.

Paul Spratt, prosecuting, said Mr Dudok had a difficult start to life during World War II and its aftermath and he came to the UK in 1947.

He was a married man with five children and in a victim impact statement his daughter-in-law Pamela Dudok said his death had a devastating effect on the family.

She said he was a man of great age but was "fiercely independent" and his loss had left a "significant hole" in the lives of all family members.

Mr Spratt said Mr Dudok, who had his shopping trolley while walking with a stick, had successfully negotiated two lanes of the ring road when he was hit by the taxi.

He said Hafeez had ample opportunity to see the pensioner well before he braked - adding: "His driving fell well below the necessary standards."

Hafeez, he stressed, was not doing anything inappropriate as he drove on the ring road and Mr Dudok died later that day from his significant injuries.

The judge gave Hafeez a ten-month jail term, suspended for two years, and he banned him from driving for two years.

He also told him he must carry out 180 hours unpaid work in the community and added: "You will not work as a taxi driver again."

Ben Williams, defending, told the court that since coming to the UK Hafeez had led an honourable and law-abiding life.

He said he had shown an inexplicable failure in his duty as a driver and he added: "Things that ought to be seen sometimes aren't. His brain did not process what was in front of him."

In evidence Hafeez maintained Mr Dudok had fallen onto his car before hitting the ground but Mr Spratt told the jury he could and should have stopped in time to avoid hitting the pensioner.

Presumably that's a condition imposed by the judge rather than anything to do with licensing?

he never drove a TAXI !!

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

How do you know for sure?

(By the way, I was just guessing when using 'PHD' for the new threat title, because I couldn't fit 'driver' with the number of characters available.)

Not sure the judge can impose that condition, that's a licensing matter.

I suspect the judge was misreported.

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IDFIMH