A driver’s claim that his electric vehicle moved by itself before striking and killing a five-year-old boy has been dismissed by a crash investigator.
Ashenafei Demissie, 53, is on trial at the Old Bailey, charged with causing the death of Fareed Amir as well as seriously injuring his own 12-year-old son.
Demissie had been parked outside his flat in Borough, south London, in November 2022 when his Volkswagen ID.4 moved forward and hit the two boys before crashing into five stationary cars, the court heard.
He claimed a fault on the electric car caused it to accelerate “of its own accord” before striking the youngsters, who were playing outside.
However, following an examination of the vehicle in December 2022, Metropolitan Police traffic collision investigator Mark Still said on Wednesday he found no evidence of a fault, adding the incident was a case of “pedal misapplication”.
Mr Still told jurors: “I was unable to find any defect that contributed to the collision and I was unable to make the car accelerate without the driver driving.
“I found no faults with the operation of the vehicle, including steering, brake and acceleration.
“I was unable to make the vehicle move without any additional input. You had to make an action to make the vehicle move.”
Defendant spoke of ‘moment of madness’
Demissie told police he had not experienced any previous mechanical problems with the car and thought it “jumped” because Fareed had triggered a sensor.
He said: “Suddenly the car jumped. I believe the car jumped because Fareed triggered the sensor. I had never had any mechanical problems with the car before.
“Just like a moment of madness. I don’t know what happened exactly. I tried to brake. It was like too late. It was just like a moment, second, whoosh and jump.”
Highlighting a number of previous incidents in which drivers had claimed their vehicles had accelerated when they believed they had been braking, Mr Still said: “They have put their foot on the wrong pedal.
“The result of that is the car will start moving. Because the driver thinks they have their foot on the brake, they will likely press harder to make it stop… it spirals out of control.”
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Mr Still admitted he was not a computer expert or software engineer and said he had considered whether a mechanical failure, including an electrical fault, might have caused the collision.
Demissie has denied the charges against him.
The trial continues.
