Driver facing jail after pensioner killed on A85
German man was driving on wrong side of the road
A German man is facing jail after admitting causing the death of a Scottish pensioner by driving on the wrong side of a lochside road near Crianlarich.
Klaus Huber’s brand new black BMW 3 Series crossed onto the wrong side of the single carriageway A85 into the path of oncoming vehicles.
The 40-year-old was attempting to pull into a layby on the eastbound side of the road near Loch Iubhair.
A court heard he failed to maintain proper observations and gave no indication of the planned manoeuvre.
The driver of an oncoming white Subaru, Patti MacKenzie, then 73, had no time to avoid a collision.
Mrs MacKenzie was severely injured and airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.
Her husband, Kenny MacKenzie, 79, her front seat passenger, from Helensburgh, was fatally injured and pronounced dead at the scene.
The accident happened on July 27, 2019. At Falkirk Sheriff Court this week Huber, of Reisbach, Bavaria, pleaded guilty to causing Mr MacKenzie’s death by careless driving.
No German interpreter was available for the hearing.
Defence counsel Michael Anderson, advocate, said prosecutors had provided a written narration of the facts to the defence only the previous evening.
Mr Anderson said: “I translated the document via Word Translate and went through it [with the accused] but perhaps the safest course of action would be simply to adjourn for reports and for the narration to be read when an interpreter is present.”
Sheriff Derek Hamilton deferred sentence until January 10 for the preparation of background reports and the presence of an interpreter.
He imposed an immediate UK driving ban on Huber, and told him the length of the disqualifaction he faced would be decided at the next hearing, along with his punishment.
He continued bail, and Huber was allowed to return to Germany in the meantime.
Leaving court, Huber failed to respond to a reporter’s requests for a comment.