A motorist who caused an accident in which a mother and two daughters sustained a catalogue of injuries may keep his driving licence.
One of the women lost her unborn child following the collision between two cars and Colin Wotherspoon’s van and had to be airlifted to hospital.
She hit out at the sentence handed down to the van driver at Cupar Sheriff Court on Thursday.
In court, Wotherspoon (51), of Hillcrest, Cowdenbeath, was fined £450 and given nine penalty points. As he already had three points on his licence for using a mobile phone behind the wheel, he should have been automatically banned.
However, his laywer argued a disqualification would cause the Edinburgh Airport construction operative undue hardship as driving was essential for his job, and a date was set for a proof hearing.
Pamela Bisset hit out at the sentence handed to Wotherspoon. She said, “This is ridiculous. I lost my baby as a result of this accident.”
Wotherspoon admitted driving carelessly on the A91 between Cupar and Dairsie on May 24 last year.
His van swerved into the opposite carriageway and collided with a car being driven by James Cronin and a second car in which Margaret Sweeney and her grown-up daughters Pamela Bissett and Elizabeth Leslie were travelling.Severe injuriesOne of the women suffered punctures in both lungs, fractures in both legs, broken ribs, had to have her arm reset in an external cage and required a blood transfusion. Another was in intensive care for seven weeks.
Sheriff Charles Macnair told Wotherspoon, “You are extremely fortunate that you are not facing the much more serious charge of causing death by careless driving. In imposing a penalty, I’m required to have regard to the standard of driving and not the repercussions of that driving on individuals.”
Wotherspoon’s solicitor James Varney told the court that his client had not been speeding, but in a momentary lapse of attention had swerved and glanced the side of the car being driven by Mr Cronin.
This caused one of Wotherspoon’s wheels to rotate 90 degrees and his airbag inflated.
Mr Varney said, “The collision with the second car at that point was inevitable as my client couldn’t control his vehicle.”
Through Mr Varney, Wotherspoon, who had little recollection of the incident, apologised to the victims and was said to be severely remorseful for the consequences.
Addressing Wotherspoon, Sheriff Macnair said, “Although this was what was described by the Crown as a momentary period of inattention, the fact remains you were on a main road, the A91, mid-morning when there was traffic coming in both directions.
“It is important, indeed critical, that people in these circumstances pay particular attention to their driving and remain on their own side. I do take into account the fact you have an almost clean licence and no previous convictions.
“I take into account the nature of the driving. It’s not by any manner of means towards the lower end of the careless driving scale, however, it’s not at the highest end either.”