A van driver ploughed into the back end of a Citylink Gold coach during a day of traffic chaos on the A9, a court has heard.
Tradesman Connor Dickson struck the near-stationary bus at 50mph after traffic came to a standstill following a tanker fire in the opposite carriageway.
The rush hour smash blocked the southbound carriageway for an hour-and-a-half.
Dickson’s van was written off and the coach – carrying about 20 passengers – was left “immobilised,” Perth Sheriff Court heard.
Dickson, 30, admitted driving carelessly on the trunk road near the Greenloaning turn-off on March 3.
He was fined £800 but has narrowly been allowed to keep his licence.
Tailbacks
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding told the court: “On this day, emergency services were attending a vehicle fire on the northbound carriageway.
“It caused drivers travelling south to slow down and observe what was happening.
“There was also an incident on the southbound carriageway.”
By 5pm a long queue of traffic had formed, Mr Harding said.
The coach was travelling in front of Dickson’s work van.
“The driver of the bus noticed the standing traffic ahead and began to slow down,” the fiscal depute said.
“He got to about 10mph when he became aware of a vehicle colliding with the rear of his vehicle.”
The prosecutor said: “Both vehicles were immobilised due to the damage caused.
“This caused the carriageway to be blocked.”
Electrical engineer Dickson, from Ardrossan, suffered a minor hand injury and was in shock, the court heard.
It is understood no one on the bus was seriously hurt but both vehicles were extensively damaged and had to be towed away.
“The carriageway remained closed for 90 minutes,” said Mr Harding.
Three incidents
Solicitor Eugene Boyle, defending, said: “What appears to have happened was that, ahead of the Greenloaning junction, there was another collision caused by someone observing what was happening in the other carriageway.
“My client was coming around a corner when traffic came to a standstill.
“He obviously had not observed what was happening.”
Mr Boyle said: “He applied the brakes but there was still contact with his vehicle and the bus.
“It was an unfortunate accident.”
The court heard Dickson had been travelling from Elgin to Glasgow with a vanload of timber and tools.
“He has learned from this incident which has caused him a great deal of distress,” said Mr Boyle.
“It has caused some friction between himself and his employers.
“He was not someone who was tearing down the road or anything like that.”
Totting up danger
Sheriff Neil Bowie told Boyle: “Clearly this was a lack of a care of attention.
“Anyone driving on a motorway has to be fully vigilant at all times.”
He said: “You were driving from Elgin to Glasgow that day – that’s a significant drive.
“You should have been taking stops and breaks.”
First time offender Dickson had eight points added to his licence, bringing his total to 11.
He was warned that any further driving misdemeanours would almost certainly lead to disqualification under the totting-up procedure.
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