An American tourist who drove on the wrong side of the A887 causing a serious accident has been banned from UK roads for two years.
Holidaymaker Matthew Lindgren, 42, was “flustered” and “distracted” after missing a turning and allowed his vehicle to cross onto the opposite carriageway, where it collided with an oncoming car.
The other driver suffered two broken ankles, a bruised pelvis and cut arm, while Lindgren had three broken ribs, a fractured vertebra and internal injuries.
Lindgren was not present at an earlier hearing but admitted a charge of causing serious injury by careless or inconsiderate driving.
The incident took place on June 28 last year on the A887 near the Bun Loyne junction.
Fiscal depute Emma MacEwan said Lindgren had been driving from Portree to Fort William with his wife and two daughters in a white Peugeot.
She said: “The accused missed a right turn at Bun Loyne junction and had thereafter turned the vehicle around and was heading west.
“The witness was driving eastbound towards Invermoriston.
Driver was on wrong side of road
“He observed the white Peugeot drive onto the wrong side of the road but had insufficient time and distance to take evasive action.
“The vehicles subsequently collided front side to front side.”
After the impact, Lindgren’s car came to rest in the centre of the carriageway and the other vehicle, an Audi, ended up on the verge. Both drivers were trapped in their vehicles.
Emergency service crews were called to the scene and both men were subsequently taken to hospital, where Lindgren stayed for two weeks and the other driver spent a week.
Lindgren’s family were physically unharmed.
No recollection of accident
Following the guilty plea, Sheriff Gary Aitken deferred sentencing for a personal appearance via videolink from Idaho by Lindgren, but this proved logistically impossible.
Speaking in his absence, solicitor Donald Mackenzie said Lindgren had been enjoying a family holiday in the Highlands at the time of the incident and on the day in question had been travelling from Portree to Fort William.
He said his client had no recollection of the moments prior to the impact but had suggested that the previous navigation error had possibly left him “flustered” and “distracted” contributing to his driving error.
He said that the crash had already had financial implications for Lindgren, whose medical treatment in Scotland and on his return to the US had been subject to insurance excess payments of $12,000.
Sheriff Sara Matheson disqualified Lindgren of Seldom Seen Road, Sandpoint, Idaho, from driving for 24 months and fined him £840.
