Taxi driver sentenced to jail for causing death by dangerous driving during road rage incident

Bradford taxi driver Yasir Qadoos has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison at Bradford Crown Court on 11 October for causing the death of Mohammed Zaman. 

He was also disqualified from driving for five years, extended for 21 months, and required to take an extended test.

On 13 June, as he drove home from work in the evening through Thornhill Lees, Qadoos became enraged when Mr Zaman overtook him on Overthorpe Road, and so began to drive competitively. Both drivers then engaged in a high speed race along the Thornhill Road, at times reaching twice the speed limit and undertaking - highly dangerous manoeuvres. Their actions clearly posed considerable risk, both to themselves and other road users. The events were captured on CCTV and a dashcam recovered from Qadoos’s taxi, on which he is heard to sound his horn aggressively and say in Urdu “I get crazy if someone overtakes me”. After less than 30 seconds of the two of them racing, Mohammed Zaman lost control of his vehicle and crashed. He was propelled through the windscreen, sustained massive injuries and died at the scene. Jonathan Sharp from the CPS said: "Yasir Qadoos had ample opportunity to disengage from the race by simply pulling over, but he did not. "Displaying reckless stupidity, he chose instead to continue driving aggressively and at high speed, not only causing danger to other road users but also being a cause of the death of Mohammed Zaman. "As a result a life has been cut tragically short and Qadoos is now beginning a three-and-a-half year prison sentence."