A bus driver has narrowly avoided jail for causing a motorcyclist to crash into a wheelie bin after he ran him off the road.
Najeebullah Aryobi, 33, was angry Joshua Luke was riding 10km/h under the speed limit in front of his bus and pulled the finger at him on an Adelaide street.
The Afghan refugee lost his job and was handed an 18-month suspended sentence and three-year driving ban for the bizarre road rage incident in January 2015.
Bus driver Najeebullah Aryobi, 33, narrowly avoided jail for causing a motorcyclist to crash into a wheelie bin after he ran him off the road after he pulled the finger at him
Aryobi became frustrated with Mr Luke’s slow driving and flashed his high beam lights at him, which the rider saw in his mirror.
Mr Luke was merely annoyed by this and accelerated so Aryobi could not overtake him when he moved into the right hand lane.
The bus tailgated him around a corner and Mr Luke became even more angry as he felt the bus was driving too close behind him.
‘He began to swerve to indicate this, then he sped up to get further away, lifting his front wheel under acceleration,’ District Court judge Simon Stretton said in sentencing.
That was when Mr Luke gave Aryobi the finger, which continued to escalate the situation.
Motorcyclist Joshua Luke broke two fingers on his right hand, partially degloved three fingers on that hand, and almost severed the second toe on his right foot in the crash
Aryobi was angry Joshua Luke was riding 10km/h under the speed limit in front of his bus
Mr Luke pulled over into a shopping centre to call a friend whose house he was driving to, then saw the bus catch up with him and made chase.
‘[He] went to overtake you pulling over to the right side of the single lane road and gave you the finger as he overtook,’ Judge Stretton said.
‘At this you lost your temper and deliberately drove the bus towards him over to the right side of the road.’
Mr Luke accelerated past the bus while again extending his middle finger, but veered off the road to avoid the bus and crashed into a wheelie bin at high speed.
‘The seriousness of that impact was obvious on the video and would have been obvious to you at the time,’ the judge said.
Mr Luke broke two fingers on his right hand, partially degloved three fingers on that hand, and almost severed the second toe on his right foot in the crash.
The toe had to be completely amputated and his fingers needed multiple surgeries with wire installed to help the bones heal correctly.
The bus tailgated him around a corner and Mr Luke became even more angry as he felt the bus was driving too close behind him
Aryobi did not stop after the accident and continued on his route, taking the name of a passenger as a witness, and only pulled over on his return route when he saw police cars.
Judge Stretton said Aryobi ‘acted out of sudden anger’ and didn’t mean to hurt Mr Luke but merely stop him from overtaking him, but said slammed his conduct.
‘Your actions were dangerous and reckless. You left Mr Luke on a suburban street, alone and late at night, with no assurance he would be able to obtain help,’ he said.
‘Mr Luke accepts that due to his behaviour, including that he had his head turned toward you and was still giving you the finger when he came off the road, that he also contributed to the accident by his actions.’
Aryobi, whose wife, eight-year-old daughter and twin four-year-old son and daughter were still in Afghanistan, fled to Australia in September 2001.
His brother was killed during the war against the Taliban and Aryobi travelled from Kabul as a refugee through Pakistan and Indonesia, eventually making it to Australia.
The Afghan refugee lost his job and was handed an 18-month suspended sentence and three-year driving ban for the bizarre road rage incident in January 2015
He was 17 when he was granted a protection visa and later became an Australian citizen, finishing high school in Adelaide and going to TAFE.
After his arrest he was asked to quit his bus driving job he had held since 2010 and then moved to Melbourne where he got a factory job six months ago.
Aryobi pleaded not guilty to causing harm by dangerous driving and leaving an accident scene after causing harm, and was convicted at trial.
Judge Stretton noted he showed remorse for Mr Luke’s injuries and gained ‘some insight’ into his crimes.
‘This is serious offending. Your actions were clearly very dangerous and significantly contributed to the significant injuries of the victim,’ he said.
‘The issue is finely balanced,’ he said of whether to send Aryobi to jail, but ultimately decided to suspend the sentence due to his clear record and remorse.