A motorist has escaped a driving ban after being caught crawling along a motorway slip road.
Grzegorz Sieradzki was spotted using his mobile phone as he drove on to the Craigend interchange on the outskirts of Perth last summer.
Officers in an unmarked car travelling behind him pulled him over after witnessing his Mazda 5 veering across the carriageway.
Depute fiscal John Adams told Perth Sheriff Court: “At around 6pm officers in an unmarked car driving north on Edinburgh Road saw the accused travelling in front of them.
“He entered the slip road on to the M90 excessively slowly and was using a mobile phone. He was seen to veer across the carriageway when there was no obstructions are hazards.
“The officers activated their blue lights and pulled him over.”
Mr Adams said he did not have specific details of traffic flow at the time in question but indicated it would be heavier due to the time of day.
Solicitor Billy Somerville, defending, said Sieradzki would lose his job as a forklift driver in Dunfermline if he was to be banned from the roads.
He said: “There was no real reason for him to take the call, which was from a friend. He was clearly trying to do two things at once.
“Unfortunately for him the police were behind him at the time.”
Sieradzki admitted driving carelessly on Edinburgh Road and the M90 at junction 10 by using a mobile phone, driving in an erratic manner and at excessively slow speed on July 25 last year.
Sheriff William Wood said: “Clearly this was a potentially difficult and dangerous set of circumstances. You were clearly distracted from your principle duty of driving your car safely and it’s the sort of case that may attract a disqualification.
“As you come before the court as a first offender with no obvious driving convictions in this country and I am prepared to deal with you by imposition of penalty points and a substantial fine.”
The 29-year-old, of Strathord Terrace, Perth, was fined £720 and handed eight penalty points.
