The actions of a careless driver could have been “quite devastating” had circumstances been different, a sheriff in Forfar said.
Paul Masson, 22, had been driving at high speed, at night, in wet conditions, on a single-lane road near Montrose, when he lost control of his R-reg Vauxhall trying to negotiate a sharp bend.
The car hit a tree and Masson’s two friends passengers at the time were injured and required hospital treatment. One suffered two broken ankles, a broken wrist and cracked ribs. The other sustained muscle and ligament injuries and a leg cut needed stitches.
Masson’s solicitor, Brian Bell, accepted that having previously been charged with the more serious offences of dangerous driving, the accused’s actions were at the high end of careless driving.
Describing the “wake up call” the incident had provided, he said Masson, a farm ground maintenance worker, fully recognised there could have been a totally different outcome for everyone involved.
Sheriff Pino Di Emidio agreed, noting the circumstances of excessive speed and a single carriageway road in wet conditions.
He said that a different outcome “could have been quite devastating and he could have had several years in jail, assuming he survived.”
Masson, of Cadger’s Path, Finavon, by Forfar, admitted driving a car carelessly and at excessive speed on an unclassified road between Barnhead and Bridge of Dun on September 9, losing control of the car, colliding with a tree, injuring his passengers and damaging the car.
The car was written off.
Fining Masson £1,400 and endorsing his driving licence with nine penalty points, Sheriff Di Emidio said: “This is an incident which could have had even more serious consequences than it actually did.
“There are a number of factors that highlight the seriousness of the offence.”
He said he had accounted for Masson’s personal circumstances and previous clean record and employment and was “just” persuaded to deal with the matter without imposing a driving ban.