A driver has been cleared of careless driving after an expert said there was no way he could have avoided hitting a pedestrian crossing the road.
Andy Clark was catapulted into the air after he was hit by Kamal Rezaye’s Ford Focus, leaving him with multiple injuries and short-term memory loss.
Mr Clark, a driving instructor, said he was sure there had been enough time to cross Portland Road, Hove, when he stepped out, carrying coffees and a sausage roll back to his car, where his wife and dog were waiting for him.
But defence expert Simon Hall, who has worked as a police collision investigator, told the court his analysis of CCTV evidence concluded Rezaye would not have been able to see Mr Clark as he crossed the road between two vehicles going in the opposite direction.
He said the same evidence showed Rezaye had been travelling at the speed limit – which led him to conclude there was no way the collision on 8 August last year could have been avoided.
The trial was first listed to begin in January, but was adjourned because of a lack of translator. It began in July, but was adjourned because more delays with the translator meant it had not started on time and so hadn’t had enough time to conclude.
A new date was set for 2 August – but it could not proceed on that day because yet again, no translator was in court.
It finally concluded on 29 August, when district judge Tessa Szagun found Rezaye not guilty.
During the July hearing, Mr Clark said he had checked both ways before crossing Portland Road halfway, and then checked again before starting to cross the rest of the way.
He added: “I remember being 90 per cent over the road then I was surprised I was knocked over. I came round about 15 minutes later and there were people standing around me. That’s all I remember.”
But Mr Hall, the defence expert, said: “I suspect that his recollection is mistaken. Mr Clark crossed between two cars travelling in the opposite direction to Mr Rezaye, so Mr Rezaye wouldn’t have had a clear sight of him.”
Rezaye’s defence counsel Jack Jennett said: “Is there anything Mr Rezaye could have done to avoid the collision?”
Mr Hall replied: “No.”
Rezaye, 24, an Afghan refugee who came to the UK as a child in 2015, said he was in the car with his friend Mohammed Moradi when the crash happened.
He said: “I was driving carefully because I was hoping my family would be able to come over and reunite with me. I was applying for British citizenship. I didn’t want any issues interfering with that.
“Mohammed said stop, there’s a man in front of you. I immediately braked and then I saw the man in the road.. but couldn’t stop and hit him.”
