A fraud investigator whose ill-advised manoeuvre on the A9 was spotted by police officers narrowly escaped a driving ban.
Thomas Mackay forced other motorists to take evasive action when he “undertook” on a dual carriageway stretch in Highland Perthshire and then swerved in front of traffic as he passed a slow-moving lorry.
Unfortunately for the self-employed 24-year-old, the first vehicle he passed was an unmarked police car.
Mackay, of Dock Mill in Shipley, Yorkshire, was initially accused of dangerous driving but a guilty plea to driving carelessly near Killiekrankie on February 6 was eventually accepted.
His solicitor told Perth Sheriff Court: “He misjudged the speed of the HGV compared to his own and was faced with the choice of either braking heavily or undertaking. He chose the latter, causing some difficulty to the vehicle in the outside lane.
“This was a misjudgement.”
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Mackay the “obvious step” would have been to slow down, adding that he believed the offence was “at the higher end of careless driving”.
The sheriff fined Mackay £600 and imposed seven penalty points.
