Driver killed moped rider while overtaking

DEFENDANT 'DID NOT HAVE A CLEAR VIEW OF ROAD AHEAD'

- By ESTHER HALLIGAN Reporter

A MOTORIST killed an innocent moped driver in an “avoidable, absolute and total tragedy”.

Mustafaa Hussain collided with Mark Coleman's moped when he was overtaking the car in front of him without a clear view of the road ahead.

Hussain collided with the moped, which was travelling towards him on Riverside Park Road in Middlesbrough, at 5.25pm on November 23, 2023.

Teesside Crown Court has heard that Hussain, 27, was stuck in a slowing line of traffic and could not see the moped on the other side of the road, when he decided to overtake.

He crashed into Mr Coleman's Honda moped - causing Mr Coleman to hit Hussain's windscreen, before landing on the road. Mr Coleman, 46, suffered a cardiac arrest on the roadside. He died from head injuries sustained in the crash, in hospital three days later.

Drivers stopped to help as they witnessed the crash on the industrial estate, just before the junction with Raleigh Court.

A key witness - the driver Hussain was overtaking - later gave a statement to the police. Crucially, he said that he had “no clear view of the road ahead”, because it was blocked by a highway maintenance truck two cars in front of him.

Hussain appeared in court on Tuesday to be sentenced. After initially denying causing death by dangerous driving, he changed his plea on December 18 last year.