A motorist described as carrying out “one of the most dangerous things ever seen” has been banned from the roads for two years.
Perth Sheriff Court heard that Steven Bruce drove backwards along the A9 trunk road for about 50 yards during rush hour.
As well as the driving ban, Bruce was ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid community work and was placed on a curfew from 8pm-6am every day for four months.
Sheriff Keith O’Mahoney told him: “I view this to be a very serious dangerous driving charge, involving you reversing the wrong way down the dual carriageway simply because it seems you missed your intended exit. There could have been far more serious consequences than there were.”
Bruce admitted coming to a halt on the A9 after missing the slip road he planned to take near Forteviot, before heading backwards into oncoming traffic. The 42-year-old smashed into an unsuspecting motorist who was turning on to the dual carriageway and was unaware of him heading in the wrong direction.
Bruce, of Tweed Crescent, Dundee, admitted driving dangerously by reversing along the A9 dual carriageway in the direction of oncoming traffic and hitting another vehicle, damaging both.
The court was told that Bruce smashed into the other motorist’s car so hard that the female driver’s door was caved in and another car was forced to move on to the central reservation.
Fiscal depute Matthew Kerr said: “As a result of the collision the complainer’s car had moderate damage. The other driver in the central reservation stopped to assist. He remarked to the accused that it was one of the most dangerous things he had ever seen.”
Bruce said: “I had missed the junction. I thought it was clear.”
He told the woman he collided with: “I was reversing as I had missed the junction and you ended up in my way.”
Solicitor Pauline Cullerton said: “He has quite rightly accepted responsibility for this offence and in his own words this was the worst decision of his life.
“He accepts there could have been more serious consequences.
“He made a serious error of judgment.”
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