A low sun which obscured the vision of a pensioner has been blamed for an Angus driver knocking town a pregnant teenager at a pedestrian crossing in Arbroath.
Mary Crighton was back at Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday in the latest round of court hearings which her solicitor described as “something of a shock” to his client.
The pensioner originally pled guilty to the more serious charge of dangerous driving before later changing her plea to not guilty.
At yesterday’s hearing Crighton, 80, of Horologe Hill in Arbroath, pled guilty to an agreed amended complaint of careless driving in Cairnie Street, Arbroath, near the junction with St Vigeans Road on May 26 2018, failing to maintain a proper lookout and failing to observe and comply with a red light.
The charge states the accused then collided with a 16-year-old, who was 12 weeks pregnant at the time and crossing the road by means of the pedestrian crossing, causing her injury.
At yesterday’s intermediate diet before Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown, depute fiscal Jill Drummond told the court the teenager pressed the button at the crossing shortly before 8pm.
She said: “She was crossing from south to north and waited until told to cross by the crossing.
“A witness stopped at the traffic lights and saw the accused driving her vehicle from east to west.
“She did not stop at the red traffic light, possibly due to a low sun in the sky in the west.
“The pedestrian was thrown over the bonnet and into the air. The windscreen and a headlight smashed.”
An ambulance was called and the pregnant teenager suffered a laceration above her right eye, which had to be glued shut, and a number of grazes and bruises.
Defence solicitor Billy Rennie told the court the low sun had been an issue for his client.
He said: “She accepts she should have been paying greater attention.
“She deeply regrets what happened, it was a shock to her and it has been a shock to her to come through the court system.
“She has been driving since she was 18, there is no evidence she is not fit to drive.”
Sheriff Martin-Brown noted the injuries sustained by the pregnant teenager but warned they could have been “much worse”.
Fining Crighton £335 and endorsing her licence with four penalty points, she added: “There was no suggestion you were speeding.
“It seems the low sun had an input.”
After the incident the young mum-to-be paid tribute to the passers-by who came to her aid.
Passersby administered first aid and provided a blanket prior to the arrival of paramedics.
She was discharged from hospital following a check-up.
