A motorist has been fined for holding up a mobile phone while driving past a crash scene on a Fife dual carriageway.
Harris Haleef, 23, of Bennochy Road, Kirkcaldy, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court to plead guilty to a careless driving charge.
He admitted holding up a mobile phone while passing a serious road accident with emergency personnel while not in proper control of the vehicle.
It happened on the A92 road between Cowdenbeath and Crossgates, at around 10.15am on December 8 2021.
Driving at 1-2mph
A prosecutor told the court one lane of the dual carriageway had been closed due to the collision and Haleef was seen by police “holding up a mobile phone and pointing it in the direction of the locus.”
Defence lawyer Amy Harley said Haleef had been on his way to Edinburgh at the time.
The solicitor said: “He was driving past and he accepts he had a phone up as if to record or photograph the incident.
“He accepts it was stupid and not acceptable and he should have focused on driving.
“He estimates he was driving very slowly, roughly 1-to-2mph, due to the traffic”.
Ms Harley said first offender Haleef is currently unemployed but has been offered a role starting soon as a delivery driver.
She said her client already has three penalty points on his driving licence.
Sheriff struggled to see danger
Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon fined Haleef £225 and endorsed his licence with six penalty points.
Another three points will mean an automatic disqualification under totting-up rules.
Haleef was originally prosecuted on a dangerous driving charge, which carries heavier punishment in the courts.
Although it was ultimately reduced to careless driving, Sheriff O’Hanlon remarked he struggled to see how this was dangerous in the circumstances given Haleef was driving at such a slow speed.
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