A lorry driver could now lose his job after being banned from the roads.
Neil Davidson had been driving loads of grain from a farm near Aberchirder to a storage depot when he misjudged a turn on a country road and toppled his vehicle.
And Banff Sheriff Court heard yesterday that it skidded across the road before colliding with an oncoming car at about 5.30pm on September 22 last year.
The lorry spilled its load across a field and damaged fencing worth about £1,500.
Davidson admitted driving the lorry carelessly and at excessive speed, causing it to tip over and collide with the car.
No one was seriously injured in the incident, but Davidson, who has previous convictions for dangerous driving and driving recklessly, had to be taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for treatment to bumps and scrapes.
Sheriff Philip Mann banned Davidson from the roads for nine months and fined him £450.
Defence agent Debbie Wilson suggested that the 27-year-old, of Windy Brae, Banff would struggle to pay for his home if he could not continue to drive.
She told the court: “This was his fourth run on this particular route this day and he had a fifth one to do.
“He was not a greatly experienced lorry driver.
“Mr Davidson was going too fast, or maybe got to cocky about the route.
“He needs his license to carry on paying his mortgage.”
Fiscal David Thorburn had told the court that the driver of the car Davidson collided with had stopped his own vehicle because he believed the lorry to be going too fast for the route – the B9025 Aberchirder to Turriff road.
Sheriff Mann said: “The only appropriate way to deal with this is to impose a period of disqualification.
“I have no doubt this is going to affect your employment and that’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”
