Cyclists thank first-aiders after dangerous driver disqualified
A couple injured when a car drove into them while they were cycling near Kennacraig want to thank the people who helped them.
The husband and wife, both in their sixties, expressed their gratitude outside Campbeltown Sheriff Court on Wednesday last week after Dominic Anthony Smith was found guilty of dangerous driving on the A83.
During his trial a witness said: ‘The two men who delivered first aid were fantastic.’ They were qualified first-aiders, she told the court.
The same witness, travelling south, passed the cyclists heading north and then heard ‘the sound of horrendous screeching brakes’. She went back to help: ‘My first thought was I couldn’t believe anyone is not more injured. The driver was in shock. I felt sorry for him. It was awful all round.’
The 25-year-old Tarbertbased engineer denied driving dangerously by failing to stop when an anti-lock braking system (ABS) warning light illuminated alerting him to a defect with the braking system, driving at excessive speed for the prevailing conditions and losing control of his car, being unable to brake effectively to avoid colliding with cyclists and injuring them.
The cyclists, who live near Aberdeen, were on the popular five ferries cycle route and between Kennacraig and Tarbert on July 3 last year, just before noon, when Smith’s car hit them from behind. The impact damaged the bonnet and broke the windscreen.
Two road policing constables gave evidence. Brendan Keowan examined the crash site, saying the tyre marks were 57 metres long and indicated the vehicle ‘locked up’ for a considerable length and was travelling at excessive speed, adding: ‘It is a reasonably gradual bend, and with the very good conditions, the driver would have been able to see the cyclists before the tyre marks began.’ Smith had said at the scene that the ABS warning light had come on.
Constable Richard Kay, a qualified vehicle examiner, said the ABS warning light came on the VW Golf when he turned the ignition. He traced the fault to the front near-side sensor wire which had been repaired with insulation tape.
Sheriff Hughes was told failure of the ABS meant the car still had brakes but they would lock if it had to brake hard and the driver should have ‘brought this into his driving plan’.
Smith, of Flat 3, Merkins Avenue, Dumbarton, said he had driven from Tarbert to Tayinloan to check if he had left something in a colleague’s van. When he started the car to travel back three warning lights came on – for the ABS, stabilising control and tyre pressure. He turned the ignition off and on again and the warning lights did not reappear then or at any other time during his journey.
‘I do not feel like I was going fast, not over the limit,’ he said. ‘It was a series of unfortunate events of my car and what happened that day. I did not expect my wheels to lock that easily.’
His defence agent, Graham Mann, said: ‘There is insufficient evidence for a conviction of dangerous driving; at its highest, this case is careless driving.’ Sheriff Hughes disagreed.
Finding Smith guilty, the sheriff said there was no criticism of the couple’s cycling. He told Smith that his belated braking and excessive speed fell below the standard expected: ‘This is a very serious matter and one which had very serious consequences.’
Smith was disqualified from driving immediately and the sheriff called for reports saying he would hear more from the defence once these were completed. The case will come before the court again on November 14.