A Fife banking manager has been fined for driving onto the M90 hard shoulder to undertake another vehicle.
Adam Codd, 38, previously pled guilty to the careless driving charge and appeared this week for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court.
The court heard the married father-of-one was said to have become impatient due to being late for work.
It was also said the court proceedings had caused a “man of public standing no end of stress and worry”.
‘Ten-second’ incident
Procurator fiscal depute Azrah Yousaf said the incident happened southbound on the motorway near junction two – the A823 slip road to Dunfermline – at around 8:20am on January 11 last year.
She said Codd’s Fiat was seen crossing diagonally from the fast lane into the hard shoulder, also used as a bus lane.
The fiscal depute said: “It was then seen to undertake a vehicle and go back on to the motorway.
“It happened in about 10 seconds or so”.
Police were contacted by other road users.
Codd, of Kirkwall Grove in Kirkcaldy, pled guilty to a charge of driving carelessly, including causing other road users to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
He was originally charged with dangerous driving.
‘Appalled and embarrassed’
Defence lawyer Stephen Morrison said his client struggled to remember the driving episode as he was not spoken to about it by police until six months later.
The lawyer said his client had been driving from Kirkcaldy and joined the motorway from the A92 and intended to leave at junction 2, to drive to an industrial estate where the offices of his employer are located.
Mr Morrison said Codd accepted he seems to have “become impatient and inconsiderate in driving”.
The solicitor continued: “He was in the hard shoulder for a brief period and came out again across two lanes into the fast lane.
“The suggestion is undertaking of the vehicle in the slow lane and (he) seems to have been impatient, perhaps late for his work.
“He recognises this does not excuse his driving but seems to be an isolated incident”.
Mr Morrison said Codd has had a clean driving licence for 20 years and this is “most definitely not his normal mode of driving”.
“He is appalled and embarrassed to think other drivers and passengers feel unsafe because of his driving.
“He says this has made him drive with extra care.
“Court proceedings cause a man of public standing no end of stress and worry. These are his words”.
The solicitor said his client, a manager in a banking group, has an income of £3000 per month and needs a licence for work.
It was reported previously that Codd works for Lloyds.
Fined
Sheriff Peter Anderson told Codd his driving that day was “very poor”.
The sheriff said: “Everyone who drives experiences frustration and impatience.
“The most you might have saved would be 30 seconds or a minute, if that. Perhaps every driver needs to think about that.
“Although there was concern and alarm, (there was) no actual harm.
“The manoeuvre was thoughtless and careless but I can deal with it by way of points”.
Sheriff Anderson imposed four penalty points on Codd’s licence and fined him £300.
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