A drink-driver had a lucky escape after she veered in front of a lorry on the A9 and bounced off a roadside crash barrier.
Former theatre technician Courtenay Drakos was pulled to safety from the wreckage of her car after the smash near Auchterarder, in October last year.
Worried motorists rushed to her aid after her smashed-up silver Vauxhall Vectra came to a halt in the middle of the road.
Drakos, from Glasgow, had set off that morning for a kayaking exhibition, after drinking until the early hours of the morning.
She appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted driving while at more than four times the legal limit.
Lost control
Fiscal depute Andrew Harding said: “Three witnesses were in a vehicle on the A9 that morning.
“Ahead of them, they saw a silver Vauxhall Vectra being driven in lane two.
“They saw it pass a lorry before losing control and swerve in front of the lorry.
“It then collided with a roadside crash barrier, before being spun back towards the carriageway.
“The car came to a halt across lane two and the central reservation.”
Mr Harding said: “The car was extensively damaged on all four sides, and a front offside wheel detaching completely.
“The three witnesses assisted the accused out of the passenger side of her vehicle. She was the sole occupant of the car, and they noticed a smell of alcohol.”
Drinking until 2am
Drakos later admitted to police she was the driver of the car that morning and agreed to be breathalysed.
She had 100 mic of alcohol in 100 ml of breath, with the legal limit being 22 mic.
Solicitor Paul Ralph said his client had been drinking until about 2am.
“She got a telephone from a friend, asking her if she wanted to go to a kayaking exhibition,” he said.
“Given the alcohol reading, it is perhaps not surprising that something happened but fortunately there was no injury to anyone as a result.”
He said the car was written off.
Sheriff William Wood said: “It might have been a very different outcome.”
Deferring sentence until July 14 for background reports, he told Drakos: “I can’t ignore the consequences that this offence could have led to.”
