A joiner has kept his driving licence despite causing a motorist to suffer multiple broken bones when he hit him after veering onto the wrong side of a road in Fife.
Kyle Baxter initially went on trial accused of causing serious injury by dangerous driving – an allegation which included driving with two defective tyres – at a bend on Limekilns Road on June 4 2021.
Prosecutors ultimately accepted a guilty plea to a reduced charge of careless driving on the second day of the trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
Baxter, 29, of Lothians View, Rosyth, admitted failing to negotiate the bend safely, driving on the opposing carriageway in the face of oncoming traffic and colliding with another car.
The trial heard the other driver was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after the late-night crash with a broken right forearm, breaks in various places to the upper arm, and a fractured pelvis on the right side, as well as a cut scalp.
Devastating crash
Giving evidence, the crash victim said he was driving a Ford Focus from Inverkeithing to Dunfermline after a work trial, with a teenage boy in the front passenger seat.
The man, 38, said: “I was approaching a right-hand turn and then became aware of headlamps coming straight in my direction.
“There is no doubt I was on the correct side of the road.
“My recollection is a car came round the corner towards me over on my side of the road.”
The man said he tried to brake but it “seemed less than a second” between seeing the car coming towards him and impact.
He recalled the steering wheel being at his chest after the collision, adding: “I remember telling (the boy) to get out the car because my fear was it would go up in flames.
“I remember not being able to move.”
The man recalled his car roof being cut away and being lifted out and onto a stretcher, in great pain, before being taken away in an ambulance.
He spent 18 days in hospital.
He needed physiotherapy and counselling, still has pain in his pelvic area and shoulder and takes medication, with his quality of life affected by the need to plan days to ensure enough rest.
Careless driving plea accepted
On the morning of the second day of trial, fiscal depute Douglas Thomson said there had been a chance to carry out further investigations with expert witnesses for the prosecution and a guilty plea to careless driving would be accepted.
The fiscal said there is “no evidence” for a mechanical fault in the vehicle and the safety of the tyres was not a contributing factor.
Mr Thomson said: “It seems momentary inattention on his part, meaning he went on the wrong side of the road, causing the collision.”
Defence lawyer Richard Freeman said first offender Baxter was driving home to Rosyth from a friend’s home in Dunfermline on an area of road which would have been in complete darkness.
He said the level of culpability is not measured by consequence but by the manner of driving and pointed out the matter had been hanging over Baxter’s head for three years.
The solicitor said Baxter had only ever had one fixed penalty notice and highlighted the imposition of eight penalty points would allow him to keep his licence, which he needs as a self-employed joiner driving a van 60 to 100 miles a day.
The solicitor said his client had also gone to the hospital with injuries himself following the crash.
He said the offer of a plea to careless driving had been made previously but was rejected by prosecutors.
Points but no fine
Sheriff Krista Johnston told Baxter the consequences were “catastrophic” for the other driver.
She imposed eight penalty points and pointed out this leaves him in a precarious position, with even a minor infraction meaning he will lose his licence for at least six months.
The sheriff did not fine Baxter, taking into the account the financial impact of attending court and legal fees and that he had spent a night in custody.
She said: “It’s been a long journey, I don’t propose to punish you further”.
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