Aberdeen delivery driver crushed to death by own car after forgetting to apply handbrake

A delivery driver was crushed to death by his car after he forgot to engage the handbrake, an inquiry has heard.

Muhammad Arshid was working as a self-employed delivery driver on the day of his death on October 21, 2023.

The inquiry heard that the 47-year-old had failed to return to his work depot or contact his boss after his first round of deliveries in the morning.

While there were no witnesses or video footage of the incident, investigations found that Mr Arshid had made a delivery around 11.30am on Craigbank Drive in the Cults area of Aberdeen and was described as appearing “slightly harassed and unkempt”.

Minutes later, another driver turned onto the street and saw the car “parked diagonally across the pavement, with the rear wheels on the pavement and the front of the car at the kerb, facing towards the roadway but slightly uphill”.

After driving towards the vehicle, he noticed that there was a man lying on his back underneath the driver’s side of the car, completely unresponsive,

The inquiry concluded that after Mr Arshid exited his Vauxhall Meriva, the car began to roll down a hill and he attempted to pursue it with the intention to stop it.

During the events, the delivery driver fell to the ground and the car rolled over him, crushing him beneath it.

Sheriff Miller concluded that it was likely he had managed to apply left steering as the car rolled backwards in an attempt to guide it towards the western pavement.

The vehicle then came to a stop, with Mr Arshid trapped underneath it.

He was taken to the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where medical teams described his condition as life-threatening.

The driver was placed in an induced coma and on a ventilator.

He died five days later on October 26, 2023.

The fatal accident inquiry concluded that Mr Arshid parked his car, and he had forgotten to engage the parking brake.

After leaving the vehicle, it started to roll down the road and Mr Arshid attempted to stop it.

The inquiry stated that Mr Arshid fell at some point whilst trying to redirect the car, resulting in the car rolling over and crushing him.