A Fife motorist who fell asleep at the wheel and ploughed into a traffic sign was warned he could have killed someone.
Sheriff Timothy Niven-Smith blasted Darren Reynolds after he admitted driving dangerously in Burntisland.
The 42-year-old’s Vauxhall Astra van ended up stranded in mid-air after hitting a road sign.
Fiscal depute Lauren Pennycook told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court the incident happened shortly before the morning rush hour.
She said: “At around 6am officers were on patrol in the area when they were made aware of a road traffic collision in Burntisland.
“They arrived at the High Street and found a white Vauxhall Astra, with dislodged paving slabs under the car.
“They found the accused and a witness Fleming nearby and spoke to them.
“They were told that the vehicle had left the road and struck an illuminated sign, lifting the paving slabs.”
‘I fell asleep, then bang’
When interviewed by police, Reynolds told them: “I fell asleep and then ‘bang’.”
This caused Sheriff Niven-Smith to remark: “He’s lucky it wasn’t, ‘I fell asleep and then bang, I’ve hit a child and killed them.”
He added: “If it was a bit later he might have hit a child, the same age as his daughter, going to school.”
Solicitor Katie Stewart, defending, said Reynolds was aware of the potential consequences of his actions.
She said: “He accepts it’s his responsibility to ascertain he’s fit to drive.
“However it’s a moment where he fell asleep.
“He accepts the danger this could have caused to pedestrians in the road.”
She said at the time of the incident he had a number of personal struggles, including the death of his mother and homelessness.
Reynolds, of Tweed Street, Dunfermline, admitted driving dangerously on the town’s High Street on April 22 2020.
Sentence was deferred for reports and Reynolds was disqualified from driving in the interim.
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