An Angus farmer described his amazement at seeing two men walk from a ravine plunge that left a third man paralysed for life, a court heard.
Robert Buzalski is on trial for a dangerous driving charge alleging he was over the alcohol limit and driving at excessive speed when he came off a narrow farm track and plummeted off the side of a bridge into the Mooran Burn.
While Buzalski and passenger Marcin Kopij escaped the vehicle after the accident near Dalbog Farm in Edzell, their friend Kryysztof Birula was left paralysed and needing a lifetime of care.
Farmer and Angus councillor Robert Myles had been renting one of his holiday cottages to the three Polish men on August 24 2013.
He told Forfar Sheriff Court how the alarm was raised by Mr Kopij at 10pm after their car went off the side of a narrow bridge and fell to the bottom of a steep ravine.
He said: “I saw where the car had gone off the road and down a steep embankment into to the burn.
“Kryysztof was still in the car and was trapped. Robert was very upset and traumatised.
“I was amazed anyone had walked away from that. I think there was a tree which slowed the car’s descent which must have helped.”
Mr Myles also told the court how treacherous the road could be when the verges were soft, as they were on the day of the accident.
He said: “It was extremely wet that day and ground conditions were soft. The verges were soft and if you went off at all you would be dragged to the side.”
Mr Myles agreed with defence solicitor Brian Bell that the road was “unforgiving” if a driver made a mistake in certain places.
He said the ideal speed would be around 20mph, to take it carefully, possibly less given the dark and wet conditions.
The second day of the sheriff and jury trial also heard evidence from a firefighter and police officers who were involved in the rescue operation.
The court heard how Mr Birula was cut free from the wreckage by firefighters and carried on a longboard under the bridge to safely escape the burn.
Accident investigator PC Michael Cargill attended the crash scene but said weather conditions prevented a full investigation until the next day.
The jury was shown slides of tyre marks on the grass leading to the gorge and heard that calculations had indicated the Hyundai was travelling at 29mph when it became airborne before plunging down towards the river.
The same calculations suggested the maximum speed at which a driver could have stayed on the bend would have been 31mph, give or take 10%.
PC Cargill said the actions of the driver had been to blame for the collision, adding that may have been due to a loss of grip on the road surface or the car going too fast.
He said: “The explanation I would prefer would involve a mixture of the two.”
Giving evidence, PC Colin Proctor also told how Busalski had identified himself as the driver and admitted drinking vodka after failing a roadside breath test.
Buzalski, 36, denies causing serious injury by dangerous driving, at excessive speed, braking sharply and losing control of the vehicle causing it to fall into the riverbed while driving with 124 mgs of alcohol (when the limit was being 80).
The trial continues.