An 81-year-old front seat passenger told a court she thought her “days were numbered” after claiming the driver of a 30-foot motor home twice hit her son’s car on the busy A9.
Annie Ross, who lives near Elgin, was giving evidence at Perth Sheriff Court in the trial of Miguel Governo, 53, of Symington, South Ayrshire, who denies driving carelessly on the Inverness to Perth road on March 2 last year.
The pensioner – who gave evidence from Inverness Sheriff Court via a video link as she is cared for by her son, Robert – said she had been travelling with him to see friends in Glasgow, when the white motor home “came out of nowhere” and twice hit her son’s Nissan X-Trail, on her side.
“We were coming to the end of a dual carriageway section of the road when this motor home came right up beside us,” she told the court.
“The huge vehicle hit us twice on my side and I thought my days were numbered. My heart was beating 20 to the dozen.”
Mrs Ross said her son sounded his horn but carried on driving south as he could not stop due to the road being so busy, but eventually they stopped at the Bankfoot roadside restaurant. She claimed it was here she noticed damage to the passenger side.
“There were dents on the passenger side and the wing mirror had been moved around – it was awful,” she said.
“I was shaking after my son’s vehicle had been hit twice – totally shocked and was glad we made it to Bankfoot, which is where we always stop when making this trip to Glasgow.”
She told the court her son had managed to note Governo’s registration number and later contacted police about the alleged incident as they made their way to Glasgow.
PC Stacey Coulter, 37, who is based at Troon, said Governo told her the charges were “utter nonsense” when she spoke to him about the incident and claimed his motor home had only suffered minor damage to a wing mirror.
Governo denies driving in a careless manner on the A9 Inverness to Perth road near Calvine on March 2, 2017, by passing a car on the inside lane and colliding with it, causing damage to both vehicles and causing the driver, Robert Ross, to take evasive action to avoid a collision with oncoming traffic.
He also denies failing to stop and provide his name and address and failing to notify police within 24 hours of the accident having taken place.
The trial was put off until April 23.
