A couple seriously injured when a motorist pulled in front of their vintage motorcycle was taking Fife back roads because the motorway was “too dangerous”.
Travelling from their home in Kirkliston, Rod Towers and his wife Helen were on their way to a meeting of the AJS and Matchless Owners Club in Perth.
The couple were left needing months of hospital treatment for broken legs and arms after Ryan Hunter ploughed into their 1957 Matchless G11.
The 22-year-old from Ballingry was convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He was banned and ordered to carry out unpaid work when he appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last week.
No time to avoid crash
Following the verdict Mr Towers, 69, said he was taking the back roads, resulting in them going through Cowdenbeath.
He said: “Although the bike is capable of doing speeds over 70mph, the vibration isn’t comfortable, so you avoid the motorways.
“If you try and do 60 people overtake you and cut in front of you all the time.
“It’s not a very pleasant ride.
“We thought it was safer – but that wasn’t a particularly great thought.”
During his trial Hunter told the court he feared he had killed the pair – a thought echoed by Mrs Towers.
She said: “When I saw the car and its wheels were already over the white line and turning at an angle to sweep in front of us, I said ‘Oh s**t’.
“Then he hit us.
“That’s how close it was – there was no way we could avoid it.
“When the impact was imminent I thought he’d killed us both as well.
“But as the pain set in I thought ‘I must be alive’.
“My main memory was of hearing the collision more than feeling it.
“Then I was lying in the road with my leg bent up at the knee.
“Strangely my arm felt much worse than my leg did, even though it was simpler injury.
“I remember starting to shake and wondering if something else was wrong – was I having a stroke or a heart attack?
“But the paramedic was very reassuring and said it was just shock.”
Broken bones
Mr Towers remembers little of the incident, though he recalls passers-by coming to their aid and lifting the bike off his legs.
With the trauma teams from hospitals in Dundee and Edinburgh both in use at the time, the couple were taken to the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
Mr Towers needed a hip replacement and suffered a “limb-threatening” injury to his wrist, which he says has not fully healed.
Mrs Towers broke her femur in three places and broke her arm.
Her injuries were so severe that following her release from hospital four-and-a-half weeks later the couple’s son Graeme and his family had to move into their Kirkliston home to care for them.
Helen yet to return to biking
Despite having previously ridden the bike all over Europe – including to Sweden and the Netherlands – the crash has curtailed their passion for motoring.
Rod took a year to get back on a bike, while Helen is yet to take the plunge.
He said: “I had to build up strength to actually pull the clutch and I still have problems – after about 100 miles or so my wrist and hand are really quite achy.
“I’ve had 50 years of driving and this is the first actual road traffic accident I’ve had.
“If one of us had been stopped by traffic lights or such we would never have met.
“But it happened and we have to live with it.”
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