Jury told moped rider in Portsmouth fatal crash '˜had no chance'

Simon Boyd, 39, was driving a Mitsubishi pick-up for Colas when the vehicle collided with a Yamaha moped being ridden by Gary Martin, 52, of Gosport.

At the first day of the trial today where Boyd, of Chaffinch Green, Waterlooville, is accused of death by careless driving, prosecutor Charles Gabb said Mr Martin had ‘no chance’.

At Portsmouth Crown Court Mr Gabb said: ‘Simon Boyd was driving down Kirpal Road, which has a give way sign at the junction with Eastern Road.

‘There wasn’t much traffic at that time in the morning. There were no cars and it was not raining.

‘Because of how close Mr Martin was when the truck pulled out, he didn’t have sufficient time to avoid it. He had no chance.’

Mr Gabb said the prosecution case is that the give way sign at the junction should have given Boyd opportunity to see Mr Martin coming.

Boyd denies the charge against him over the crash at 6.20am on October 26, 2016.

Giving evidence, Christopher and Nicola Szabados told the jury how they saw the collision happen in front of them. Mrs Szabados said: ‘We were travelling northbound along Eastern Road in the morning.

‘I saw a Colas truck slowly pull out of the junction from Kirpal Road, looked away for a second and heard an almighty bang.’

At first when she looked she did not see what was on the ground but added: ‘When we took a closer look, I saw it was the remains of a scooter, and a body in the road.’

Mr Szabados said: ‘The lighting and visibility were pretty good.

‘I had no vehicles in front of me, and saw a truck in the middle of the road.’

Barry Clarke, an off-duty paramedic, was driving southbound along Eastern Road when the crash happened, the trial heard.

Mr Clarke, who went to Mr Martin’s aid, said he saw the truck come to a stop, but did not see the moped beforehand.

Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Clarke said: ‘From what I saw, it seemed like the truck slowed and carried on out the junction, as if the driver hadn’t seen anything. I didn’t see it stop.

‘I didn’t see the motorcycle until I was level with the vehicle.’

The trial is expected to last another three days.

(Proceeding)