A lorry driver who forced terrified motorists to take evasive action after driving on the wrong side of the A9 must complete 250 hours unpaid work.
John McCormack, 46, hit a car before carrying on with his damaged lorry on the A9 between Blair Atholl and Perth.
One terrified occupant, who was heading north, managed to mount the verge and steer his vehicle clear of the oncoming truck. But the near miss didn’t alert McCormack to the danger his driving was causing and he continued on the same side of the road.
Another driver, who had his three children in the vehicle, had positioned his car against the crash bar in order to avoid the truck. McCormack’s lorry struck the car’s front wing and scraped along the full length of the vehicle, causing extensive damage to both.
Fiscal depute Rebecca Kynaston said: “The accused did not stop at any time and continued travelling south.”
McCormack, Doon Place, Kilmarnock, admitted driving dangerously on the Perth to Inverness A9 road, near Bruar, on April 11 last year, causing two vehicles to take evasive action before colliding with one of them.
He also failed to stop after the crash and give his name and address, and used his lorry while it posed a danger to other road users because of the damage to its bodywork.
Solicitor David Holmes said: “He has no recollection of the accident and how it took place. He remembers sneezing and nothing else.”
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis, who also banned McCormack for two years, said: “If you allow an articulated lorry to go on the carriageway of a main trunk road north it doesn’t take much imagination as to what could have happened.”
