A man caused a head-on collision on a Moray road after mixing anti-depressants with hay fever medicine and “blacking out” at the wheel of his car.
Alan McConachie claims to have no recollection of weaving along the A941 Elgin to Rothes road on the wrong carriageway, before ploughing his red Volkswagen Golf into a black Fiat Panda and seriously injuring three of its occupants.
The 22-year-old was banned from driving for 15 months and fined £1,200 when he appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov spared him a prison sentence because medical tests confirmed that the mixture of medication he was on at the time could have made him pass out.
Fiscal Kevin Corrins said the crash took place at Fogwatt on September 10 in 2014.
Mr Corrins added: “The parties in the Fiat were travelling north from Rothes to Elgin, when they became aware of the accused’s car in front of them.
“It was on their side of the carriageway, and didn’t seem to be deviating.”
The court heard that both vehicles sustained “extensive front damage” in the ensuing crash.
Mr Corrins went on: “The accused did not require medical treatment, but everyone in the other car did.
“The front passenger, Heather Madsen, had a fractured wrist, foot, sternum and rib.
“She still suffers psychological effects, with sleep-related issues.”
McConachie, of 14 Cathedral Court in Elgin, admitted to seriously injuring Heather Madsen and Cecilia and Alexander Wilson, and injuring Lars Madsen, by driving dangerously.
His solicitor, Matthew O’Neill, said McConachie had been suffering from depression in the weeks preceding the crash.
Mr O’Neill added: “He had been on depression medication and, on the day of the incident, he had also been feeling unwell with hay fever and took some antihistamines for that.
“Unfortunately, my client did not check to see if he was able to take those in addition to the medicine he was on.
“He took the hay fever medication ten minutes before the crash, and can’t remember anything until the collision.”
Mr O’Neill said doctors in Glasgow confirmed that combining the two drugs could cause people to “black out”.
Sheriff Pasportnikov said: “I am prepared to accept this offence was caused by an omission, rather than deliberate bad driving.”
