A MOTORIST must pay £160 after he tried to overtake two cars that he thought were parked when they were moving.

Stephen Mark Rix, 34, hit the side of a Peugeot 106 in Tudor Road, Acomb, and drove off without stopping, assistant prosecutor Steven Ovenden told York magistrates.

“It was one of those unfortunate things that can happen to people. It doesn’t make you a bad or evil person,” said defence solicitor Neal Kutte.

Landscape gardener Rix, of Baker Street, Clifton, pleaded guilty to careless driving, failure to stop after an accident and failure to report an accident and was fined £100, with a £15 victim surcharge, plus £45 prosecution costs. He was given six penalty point on his driving licence.

Mr Ovenden said Rix pulled out to overtake the Peugeot and a Ford Fiesta, when they were both moving. He later told police he did not believe there had been any damage and he had thought they had stopped. The court heard that at the time he had pneumonia and spent five weeks in hospital with a heart and lung infection.