Court / ‘Bizarre’ course of driving leads to ban for Walls man
A DRIVER behind an “inexplicable and rather bizarre” course of driving which forced another road user to perform an emergency stop has been banned from the road.
Ronald Johnson, from Walls, almost caused a head-on collision on 5 February this year after repeatedly veering onto the opposite side of the road.
The 61-year-old was driving on the A971 between Tresta and Bixter at around 6pm when another driver saw Johnson’s van repeatedly swerving back and forth across the road, and even onto the roadside verge.
The person was so concerned that they began to record Johnson’s driving on their mobile phone.
Prosecutor fiscal Duncan Mackenzie said the footage was “clear and actually quite alarming”.
It showed Johnson “simply could not keep this van in a straight line”, he told the court.
When he reached Bixter, Johnson veered onto the opposite side of the road – with another car coming towards him, which had to perform an emergency stop.
Johnson managed to swerve at the last moment to avoid a collision, and though police were called they initially could not trace him.
Mackenzie said it was very clear from the footage of the incident that Johnson was “impaired by some reason”.
Defence agent Gregor Kelly said his client had “no recollection how bad his driving had been” but pleaded guilty as soon as he had seen the video.
The context behind the incident was that Johnson had been working “extremely hard” building a house in Tingwall on the day in question, Kelly said, and had been very tired as he drove home.
Kelly said there was “some fortune” that Johnson was able to swerve at the last minute to avoid a collision.
However, he added it was also clear in the video that neither vehicle was “moving particularly quickly”.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank fined Johnson £1,000 for what he called an “inexplicable and rather bizarre example of driving”.
He also banned him from driving for one year. Johnson will have to sit the extended test of competence in order to regain his driving licence.
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