A delivery driver whose misjudged overtake resulted in cyclist being taken to hospital has admitted careless driving.
Jamie Taylor’s 7.5 tonne vehicle clashed wing mirrors with an oncoming lorry as he tried to pull back on to his side of the road, sending debris flying into the path of the cyclist he had just passed.
The cyclist tried to take evasive action but hit one of the broken wing mirrors and fell from his bike resulting in paramedics being called and a trip to hospital to be checked over.
Taylor, 42, of Balnafettack Road, Inverness, pled guilty to a single charge of careless driving at Tain Sheriff Court.
Fiscal Depute Hilary Michopoulou told the court that the incident happened on the B9165 near Fearn on June 11 last year at 12.45pm.
She said: “The accused performed an overtake manoeuvre on a cyclist who had been on a short straight section of road.
“There was a lorry coming the other way and the accused was unable to complete the overtake manoeuvre. The other vehicle was a lorry. Both lorries collided knocking off each other’s wing mirrors.
Cyclist crashed trying to avoid collision debris
“The debris from both vehicles was thrown onto the carriageway. The cyclist crashed into a wing mirror in the road, he tried to take evasive action that caused him to fall off his bike.”
The court heard that the paramedics were called and the cyclist was taken to hospital with grazing to his body, arm, leg, hip and knee but released later the same day.
Solicitor Rory Gowans, for Taylor, told the court that his client had been working for a courier firm but had been moved from a 3.5 tonne to a 7.5 tonne vehicle on the day in question.
“On that day he was given a bigger vehicle to carry out a delivery to Fearn,” said Mr Gowans.
The court heard that dashcam footage showed Taylor passing the cyclist with ease, but failing to fully regain his lane before meeting another similar-sized lorry coming in the opposite direction.
“He fully accepts that it was his error in judgement that caused all this,” Mr Gowans told the court.
Handing down a £640 fine and six penalty points, Sheriff Gary Aitken said: “He is very lucky that this didn’t end up an awful lot worse.”
