A taxi driver who smashed into a barrier on the Tay Road Bridge had feared his car was going to plunge into the river below.
Thomas Naismith and fellow taxi driver Mohammed Iqbal had been driving side-by-side at high speeds towards Dundee in the early hours of the morning before the collision.
Prosecutors had accused the pair, aged 54 and 56 respectively, of racing each other on the bridge.
CCTV footage played during their trial at Dundee Sheriff Court showed Naismith’s car in the left hand lane on the 50mph stretch, with Iqbal’s vehicle indicating left while side-by-side.
Naismith’s car then accelerated, before colliding with the barrier on the slip-road to Perth, a 30mph zone.
A piece of the barrier flew into the air and narrowly missed a car travelling towards Fife.
First offender Naismith was found guilty of dangerous driving, while Iqbal was convicted of a lesser charge of careless driving.
Bridge race considered
Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “I am entirely satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the two of you were travelling at an average speed grossly in excess of the appropriate limits.
“On the question of racing, racing connotes that one of you must have tried to get your vehicle to a certain point of the bridge before another.
“In Mr Naismith’s case, there is a clear example that is what he intended to do.
“There is no evidence that is what Mr Iqbal tried to do.
“The evidence is he flashed his indicator to come into the left hand lane and decided, quite correctly, he couldn’t do so and carried on at a grossly excessive speed.
“There is no evidence he tried to reach that point.”
Bridge plunge terror
Sheriff Murray added: “As Mr Naismith himself acknowledged, his fear was that he would crash through the barrier and would go into the river and that he can’t swim.
“He knows that as he was coming off the Perth slipway road he would require the appropriate speed and as evidence shows, he did not apply it.”
Naismith, of Gleneagles Street, Dundee, was convicted of driving dangerously on November 26 2022 on the Tay Road Bridge by travelling at excessive speeds, losing control of his vehicle, colliding with a barrier and causing extensive damage to both his vehicle and the barrier.
The driving of Kerrystone Court resident Iqbal was described as “utterly appalling” by the sheriff who found him guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving by driving at excessive speeds.
‘Catastrophic effect’ of licence loss
Doug McConnell, representing Naismith, said his client had been a taxi driver for 20 years and has been renting out his taxi plate since being suspended.
Iqbal was also suspended which, according to defence solicitor Ross Bennett, has had a “catastrophic effect” financially.
Both men are hoping to resume their careers as taxi drivers subject to further hearings with Dundee City Council’s licensing board.
The pair were each fined £500 and Naismith was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Iqbal was handed a six-month ban.
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