Man died in crash after driving through red lights while he chatted to his partner on his mobile
Nadeem Asghar, 31, was struck by another car at a busy junction in Digbeth, Birmingham, on 25 March
A MAN was killed in a car crash after driving through a red light whilst talking on the phone, an inquest has heard.
Nadeem Asghar, 31, was speaking to his wife when he collided with another car at a busy junction in Digbeth, Birmingham, on 25 March.
Birmingham Coroner’s Court was told Nadeem was driving his red Toyota Corolla through the junction of Alcester Street and Bradford Street when the accident happened.
CCTV footage showed him skipping a red light before another car passing through a green light smashes into his vehicle.
PC Stuart Thorpe told the inquest: “The traffic lights controlling the opposite direction were on green and Mr Asghar comes from the right and travels through the red light and is then struck by another car travelling along Bradford Street.”
The other car was obeying the 30mph speed limit, he said, adding that Nadeem, from Astley Close, Redditch, drove through the junction at a very slow speed.
He continued: “We have to ask why Mr Asghar went so slowly through a red light, so we examined mobile phone records.”
The records revealed the driver of the other car had not been using his phone near to the time of the crash, which happened at 11.12am.
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But Nadeem’s mobile showed a number of calls from 11am onwards.
Crucially, there was one incoming call that began at 11.06am and ended at 11.12am – just as the first call was made to the ambulance service.
PC Thorpe said: “What this tells me, significantly, is that the phone call was an open call and still in progress after the ambulance had been called and so was an open call when the accident occurred.
“Mr Asghar may have been distracted by the call and this may be an explanation as to why he went through a red light.”
When asked by Nadeem’s father who was on the phone, the officer told him: “It was your son’s wife.”
The tragic driver was taken to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he died of a brain injury six days later on 31 March.
Friends and relatives paid tribute to the “kind and caring” man at a memorial service in Redditch in March.
Sohail Akhtar said: “My brother Nadeem Asghar finally laid to rest. Such a great loss to everyone close to him.”
And Emmalyne Marion Muhmood said: “I can't believe he is gone. The nice ones are always taken first and he really was one of the kindest most caring people we all knew.”
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