A couple have described how their ski trip to Glenshee turned into a day of horror after witnessing a near-fatal car accident.
“Grzegorz and his gentleman passenger managed to miraculously get out before I got to the car.
“The damage was quite extensive. The tyres had exploded, the bonnet was raised and the boot was damaged. There were bits of debris all over the road.”
She said Pindelski had a deep gash in his head which she used first aid skills to treat, while speaking to him to ensure he remained conscious.
PC Richard Humphrey, a road traffic accident veteran who attended the scene in its immediate aftermath, said he was surprised the injuries were not more serious.
Pindelski, who had left Glasgow early in the morning to go skiing, said he had been driving no faster than 60mph as he overtook.
He said: “It was my fault. I just misjudged the distance and I didn’t see the blind summit in the road before I overtook the cars. If I could turn back time I wouldn’t have overtaken.”
He had admitted careless driving on the A93 near Persie House, Blackwater, on February 23 but denied a more serious charge of dangerous driving.
The charge stated he drove at excessive speed, overtook another vehicle on the approach to a blind summit, lost control of his car and collided with a wall, damaging the car and wall.
However, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis said he had “no hesitation whatsoever” in convicting him of the greater charge, adding he could easily have been facing trial at a higher court.
He said: “It is only because the dice rolled in a very fortunate way that you and your passenger on the day were not seriously, and potentially fatally, injured.”
He disqualified first offender Pindelski from driving for a year and fined him £600.
A professional bus driver in Glasgow for four years with First Group, the court heard he will also lose his job as a result of the conviction.
Leslie Paterson and Lisa Gascoigne were driving on the A93 towards Glenshee when bus driver Grzegorz Pindelski attempted an “insane” overtake in his car on a blind summit.
The 32-year-old Glaswegian lost control of his car after it “took off” on the crest, flipped over and rolled 60 metres down the steep road.
Pindelski and his passenger both escaped unharmed but Perth Sheriff Court heard things could have been very different as he stood trial for dangerous driving.
Mr Paterson (50) said he had been leading a column of five cars along the narrow road when he spotted Pindelski starting to overtake. He said he had no issue with the manoeuvre until he neared a blind summit on the road and the accused began to pass his car.
He said: “He pulled out to overtake the car behind me, very close to the blind crest and I thought he’d pull in behind me but he didn’t. He was cutting it fine because you couldn’t see what was coming.
“He continued to overtake me. I hit the brakes. He was too close to the blind crest. He didn’t pull in and was still on the other side of the road when he went over the crest. I was doing 50 to 55 miles per hour and he was doing significantly faster.
“He went over the crest and actually took off all four wheels left the ground. When he landed the tail end of the car came round to the left as if he was trying to correct the over-steer.
“The front end of the car hit the offside bank, which spun it round and it started to roll.”
Asked what he thought of Pindelski’s attempted overtake, Mr Paterson said it was “insane.”
Lisa Gascoigne (47) was travelling with Mr Paterson and was woken by his sudden braking. She said she saw Pindelski’s car pass “far too fast” before he lost control.
Crying in the witness box as she recalled events, she said: “It was horrifically frightening. The car rolled in front of us it was very upsetting to watch. I was screaming my head off.
“The accident was really nasty and we stopped and watched the car roll several times it was like watching some rally programme.
“I jumped out and ran to the gentlemen and at that point I thought they might be dead.”
Continued…