A pedestrian was carried on the bonnet of a car which hit him as the driver tried to overtake a bus, a court heard today.
Keir Nimmo was struck after he started crossing on a red man, but while traffic waiting to go north at the Old Steine was still stationary at the lights at the bottom of Castle Square, next to the cafe.
Driver Limukani Ndhlovu told police he thought Mr Nimmo had cleared the crossing when he drove on, intent on moving faster than a bus in the next lane so he could turn right.
Today, Ndhlovu was banned from driving for a year by Brighton Magistrates Court after admitting causing serious injury through careless driving.
Prosecuting, Maria Goptareva said: “Mr Nimmo said he believed the driver saw him. He said he though, ‘He’s not going to stop’ and at this piont the car collided with him and he ended up on the bonnet for a long period of time before they stopped.
“He fell and landed on his right wrist, resulting in a closed fracture.
“Ndhlovu got out and told him, ‘I didn’t see you, I was looking at the bus, I was trying to beat the bus.'”
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Nimmo said he had been signed off work for three months and had been forced to run through the savings he had hoped to spend on a deposit for a flat.
He said: “I was unable to do thing – I couldn’t drive my car and I was essentially contained in my house for this period.
“I’m now incredibly cautious and paranoid when crossing roads and I’ve been experiencing nightmares and flashbacks.”
Defending, James Yates said Ndhlovu, a care worker, had no previous convictions and a clean licence. He said: “This has affected him profoundly, although he accepts that the effect on the victim is much worse.
“He was going through a green light, and avoiding making contact with the bus.
“He wishes the victim could be told how genuinely sorry he is.”
Ndhlovu, 40, of Leahurst Court, Brighton, was given a 12-month community order with a requirement to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay £85 in costs and a victim surchrge of £114.
Darwin awards to both🤦♂️
Ahh yesss, interesting.
So a pedestrian walked into the road with a red light telling them to stop and wait, while the driver who started to move off with a green light while also trying to deal with a bus to the side of him coming in and out of the edge of his lane, leaving little room to use his own lane, hit the pedestrian who lurched out into the road and somehow it’s not the bus driver’s fault for forcing the driver closer to the curb, it’s not the pedestrian’s fault for ignoring the red light, it’s the driver’s fault, the one person who had very few options and faced obstacles created by the other two, and who was doing so legally and in accordance with the green signal and within his own lane, is the one at fault?
What an absolutely diabolical system of justice. Fine the pedestrian! fine the bus driver!
The guy sandwiched between these two clowns is the one at fault?!
If only you knew the pedestrian’s age, Mark. If they were over 40 you could call them a boomer.
If only you knew the pedestrian’s age, Mark. If they were over 40 you could call them a boomer.