Driver fined after early morning crash

A wind farm security officer’s misperception of on-coming vehicle lights on a dark morning led to him crashing into another vehicle, Campbeltown Sheriff Court heard last Wednesday.

The collision, about half a mile north of Bellochantuy on the A83, happened on September 4 last year at around 6am.

Elhassan Mohammed E Osman, of 9 Paisley Road, Glasgow, was driving a white Mercedes van and was on his way to work. He admitted careless driving.

Both men were taken to hospital but only suffered minor injuries.

‘At that point the road is straight and the weather was good with little to no traffic at the time,’ said James Dunbar, procurator fiscal depute.

The other driver told police he was travelling between 5055mph, saw Osman’s vehicle approaching and dipped his own car’s lights from the main beam.

At around 30 yards apart he realised the van was on his side of the road, not correcting its course; he tried to move into the other lane and braked heavily but failed to avoid the collision.

Osman’s defence agent said it was ‘puzzling’ to understand how the accident happened; Osman, aged 52, was only driving at 35 miles per hour.

‘There is a lack of aggravated factors here,’ he said, adding: ‘Prior to the point of impact there is a slight right-hand bend – about 50 or 60 metres prior to the collision.

‘If the oncoming driver had straddled that bend there could have been a misperception, on a dark morning with bright headlights of the vehicle coming toward him.’

Sheriff Patrick Hughes fined Osman £750 plus a victim surcharge of £20 and added six points to his licence. He acknowledged there was a plausible explanation and Osman had helped the other driver after the accident happened.