A van driver who lost control on the A9 and smashed into a car injuring an expectant mother and young child has been allowed to keep his licence.
Liam Robertson’s work van rounded a bend on the wrong side of the road at Navidale, near Helmsdale, colliding with a BMW heading north on the A9.
A heavily pregnant woman and four-year-old girl, who were passengers in the car, were both injured in the crash.
Robertson, 23, appeared at Tain Sheriff Court to plead guilty to a single charge of driving without due care or attention.
Fiscal depute Shamielah Ghafar told the court that the incident took place on April 8 of last year at around 5.10pm.
She said that the other driver was heading north in his BMW with his wife and child, both passengers in the rear of the vehicle. He had just passed the Sutherland-Caithness border when he spotted Robertson’s vehicle.
“He observed a white van coming round the corner that had lost control,” Ms Ghafar said.
Van driver ‘The wrong side of the road’ on A9 and caused crash
“It was on the wrong side of the road, heading towards his vehicle on his side.
“The front near side of the car collided with the front of the vehicle.”
Following the collision, Robertson approached the other vehicle and “apologised a number of times”.
Witnesses reported that it appeared he had “no idea what had happened and appeared in a state of shock”.
When police arrived Roberson passed a roadside breath test and no signs of impairment were noted.
The pregnant woman was taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness by ambulance where she was kept under observation for a number of days.
She had suffered suspected broken ribs but could not be X-rayed due to being heavily pregnant.
She also had a swollen left eye and bruising on her head, bump and the groin area.
The little girl suffered a broken arm, which required her to wear a sling for six to eight weeks, but “won’t affect her long term”.
‘Inexperienced’ driver offers apologies
Solicitor Rory Gowans, for Robertson, said his client, who also suffered two broken ribs in the crash, had asked him to extend his “unreserved apologies for what happened”.
He said his client had held a driving licence for five or six years but was not “vastly experienced” and was unfamiliar with the stretch of road in question.
He said the electrician, from Portlethen, had only been told the day before that he was required to travel to Wick for work.
After successfully completing the journey there, he was on his way back when the incident occurred.
Mr Gowans said Robertson was travelling within the speed limit when “it would appear that the back end of the van slid going round a corner”.
He added that the weight of tools in the van may have contributed to what happened next.
“Mr Robertson did what he could but the moment where he could control it had passed,” he said.
The defence agent told Sheriff Gary Aitken that the accused was well aware of what could have happened and had been affected by it.
“I have had several conversations with him, and he won’t thank me for this, but several conversations where he has been close to tears,” Mr Gowans said.
“He certainly didn’t leave that morning with the intention of anything like this happening.”
Sheriff Aitken told Robertson: “As I’m sure you already appreciate the consequences of your inattention or inability when driving in this manner could have been dramatically worse than they were.”
He said he was “very close” to putting Robertson “off the road” but decided instead to impose a sentence that would serve as a “longer lasting reminder of the importance of being very, very careful when in charge of a vehicle”.
Robertson, of Devenick Drive, Portlethen, was fined £1,675 and issued with nine penalty points.
The sheriff told him: “Any endorsable offence in the next three years and you will be off the road.”
