The driver of a white Mazda that came off the road at the Ardullie roundabout on the A9 was almost three times the drink-drive limit.
Robert Campbell had been drinking with friends and got behind the wheel when he received a distressed call from his partner about the sudden death of a family member.
His vehicle became something of a local landmark – and is now immortalised on Google Maps – due to the length of time it was left abandoned on the NC500 route, close to the Cromarty Bridge.
Campbell, 44, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court to admit a single charge of drink-driving in relation to the incident on February 16 of this year.
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh told the court that other motorists spotted Campbell retrieving items from the stricken vehicle, which appeared to have been crashed, in the early hours of that morning.
Ardullie crash driver was over the limit
When police officers arrived Campbell failed a roadside test.
He was arrested and taken to Burnett Road Police Station where further testing revealed his breath alcohol level to be 63 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath – almost three times the legal limit of 22 microgrammes.
Solicitor Marc Dickson, for Campbell, said his client had been drinking with friends with no intention of driving when he received the distressed call from his partner.
Concerned for her safety, Campbell had taken the decision to get behind the wheel.
“He bitterly regrets the decision, taken against that background, to drive the motor car,” Mr Dickson told Sheriff Ian Cruickshank.
Noting a previous conviction for failing to provide a sample, Sheriff Cruickshank fined Campbell, of Commerce Street, Buckie, £1040.
He also banned him from the roads for three years and certified him as suitable for a self-funded drink drivers’ rehabilitation course, which, if completed, would reduce the length of the ban by a quarter.
NC500 ‘eyesore’ attracted local interest
Campbell’s car became something of a talking point in the local community following the incident, as it was left by the side of the road for more than two months.
Reports at the time told how the “eyesore” on the NC500 route had attracted attention from a local councillor who called for its removal.
At one point the vehicle was used as an impromptu billboard by opportunist advertisers and its resting position has been immortalised on Google Maps.
The vehicle was eventually removed on April 28 with one Facebook user commenting: “I thought that would have listed status by now”.
