Lorry driver ploughed into crash barrier
He drove with defective steering
An HGV driver has been banned from the road after ploughing into a crash barrier in his skip lorry and shedding a ton of bricks across a motorway.
Robert Morrison, 44, was convicted of dangerous driving after causing traffic mayhem during a nine- mile journey from Neilston, via Barrhead into Glasgow at the wheel of his heavily-laden truck.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard Morrison had problems with the lorry’s steering but carried on regardless until he veered across two lanes of the M77, smashed into the barrier, and veered back across the motorway on two wheels before tipping onto the vehicle’s side.
The truck shed a ton or so of masonry across the carriageway with bricks even hitting cars nearby.
Fiscal depute Margaret McCallum told the court Morrison picked up the truck, a white skip lorry, at the Neilston yard on the morning of October 16, last year, and drove hurriedly through rush hour traffic leaving other motorists frightened.
She said: “The accused drove on the A736 through Barrhead. It was dark. At the roundabout he failed to comply with all three sets of traffic lights and continued to Main Street towards Darnley Place.
“The accused continued to the M77 junction three at which point the light was green. He delayed at this point even though there was no traffic. A witness observed this.
“He joined the motorway and then drove on the hard shoulder and then joined the main carriageway. The accused was then observed driving over solid white lines.
“He drove on the hard shoulder again. Then drifted across the central lines. A witness reported the matter to police as she was of the opinion the manner of driving was dangerous.”
The court heard Morrison was repeatedly using the hard shoulder to skip queueing traffic, then he would force his way back into the lane.
Eventually he lost control of the truck at junction two of the M77 when heading back to the yard, when he drifted across the hard shoulder, up the ramp and crashed into the barrier, shedding its contents across the carriageway.
Morrison, of Seaton Terrace, Irvine, pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving when he appeared in the dock before Sheriff Tom McCartney this week.
Defence agent Mark Chambers said his client had started driving the skip lorry when there was something wrong with the steering, but instead of pulling over he had continued on his journey.
He said: “The proper thing to do would have been to have stopped at the side of the road to seek assistance.
“The truck had a significant mechanical defect. He continued on the journey but then decided to make his way back to the yard to report the matter to his employers.
“He realises his career as an HGV driver is over. And he understands this is a very serious matter. He fully acknowledges that.”
Sheriff Tom McCartney said: “The manner of driving was certainly very dangerous over an extended distance.”
He spared Morrison custody but banned him from driving for four years and ordered him to perform 240 hours unpaid work.