A car overturned on the A82 between Fort William and Glasgow after skidding on mud and stones thrown onto the road by a lorry that hit a verge to avoid an accident, a court heard.
Fort William Sheriff Court was told that lorry driver Joseph Munro had been trying to steer clear of an oncoming HGV when one of his wheels left the road on March 10 this year.
The 47-year-old pleaded guilty to driving carelessly on the Inverness to Glasgow road, about half a mile south of Corran Ferry, by failing to negotiate a bend and losing control of the lorry, which struck a grass verge.
A car then skidded on mud and stones on the carriageway, collided with a bridge parapet, and overturned.
Sheriff Michael Fletcher said the law relating to careless driving meant he could not take into account the consequences of Munro’s driving, just the level of the carelessness involved.
Munro, of 12 Eden Avenue, Winsford, Cheshire, was fined £300 and will have seven points on his licence.
Fiscal depute Karen Smith said witnesses were travelling south at about 6.35pm when they saw a lorry travelling towards them strike the near-side verge.
She said: “The trailer unit was spun right into the roadway and a large amount of mud, stones and gravel were thrown up onto the road surface.
“The tractor unit then veered across the carriageway into the southbound carriageway and the oncoming vehicle slowed down and stopped.”
Ms Smith said that after the lorry left the scene, another car that was travelling north came around the bend and skidded on the mud and stones.
She added that the driver was unhurt.
Munro was traced later that day asleep in the cab of his lorry in a Fort William car park.
Defence agent Hamish Melrose said his client was travelling from Stirling to Corpach with an empty trailer when the incident happened.
He said: “He was negotiating a sweeping left-hand bend when he saw an oncoming HGV and felt the vehicle was close to the centre line of the road.
“In my client’s estimation, it was too close for comfort and he pulled to the near-side, but he pulled over too far.”
Mr Melrose added: “He saved the vehicle going off the road, which is a fairly common thing for HGVs in this area given the nature of the roads here and there was no collision.”
