Fort William HGV driver fined £360

A FORT WILLIAM HGV driver voluntarily quit the job he had worked in for the past 20 years the day after he was spoken to by police in connection with a road traffic offence.

Appearing at Fort William Sheriff Court last week, Kenneth Hodgson, 66, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving at the Back of Keppoch on the A830 road between Mallaig and Fort William, on August 31 of last year.

The court heard how HGV driver Hodgson had overtaken a slower moving car which had pulled out in front of him at a junction on what is a long straight section of the A830. However, his overtaking manouevre meant the driver of an oncoming vehicle had to slow down and move slightly over to the left side of the road to avoid a collision.

Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald heard that Hodgson had co-operated fully with the police officers when they spoke to him at his place of work for the past two decades, Milligan Transport in Mallaig.

Defence agent Hamish Melrose said the impact of the incident on his client had been devastating.

‘Mr Hodgson has been driving since he was 17 and has held an HGV licence for the past 43 years,’ said Mr Melrose.

‘When police approached him at his work later that same day, he didn’t know what they were talking about. But the following day he handed in his notice, saying if this was the way things were going, he’d had enough.’

Of the manouevre the oncoming vehicle had made, Mr Melrose told the court he would struggle to describe it as ‘evasive’ because it was so marginal.

Sheriff MacDonald fined Hodgson £360 and ordered three penalty points be placed on his driving licence.