Driver fined for crash on wrong side of road

Alan Andrew was driving on the wrong side of the A9

An 87-year-old driver who caused a head-on crash on the A9 by driving on the wrong side of the road has been fined £3,000.

Alan Andrew from Shipley in West Yorkshire was found guilty of causing serious injury by driving dangerously on the A9 near House of Bruar in Pitlochry on 31 December 2023.

He ignored his wife's repeated warnings about oncoming vehicles and claimed he had been blinded by the "vivid" sunlight, but had decided to keep driving straight on before the crash in which both cars were doing about 50mph.

Sheriff Elisabeth McFarlane also banned him from driving for 12 months as well as ordering him to resit the extended driving test.

Perth Sheriff Court heard that Andrew's Range Rover Sport hit Peter Falconer's Kia Ceed so hard that it knocked the whole engine out of the vehicle.

Sheriff Elisabeth McFarlane told Andrew she had "no difficulty" accepting that his driving fell "well below" the standard of a competent driver.

She said: "Whilst I accept you were temporarily blinded by the sun, what concerns me is your reaction to that and how long it took you to react.

"You told me you drove 300 or 400 yards - a significant distance - at 50mph with three cars coming towards you which, significantly, your wife saw when she was seated right beside you in the same car.

"She saw the cars coming towards you and alerted you to that three times, and you took no evasive action."

'It's going to hit us'

Andrew was returning from his holiday home in the Black Isle when he caused Mr Falconer, 42, life-changing injuries.

Andrew told the court: "There was a strong flash of sunshine. It came across the road and from then on I could hardly see a thing. The sun was absolutely vivid.

"I went round the bend and it made it worse. At the end of the bend I had a horrible feeling I couldn't see at all. I realised I was completely blind.

"My first thought was not to panic. I had the presence of mind to try and keep the car fairly straight so anyone on the road could see it."

He added: "My wife shouted out 'there's a car coming towards us...it's still coming towards us...it's getting closer and closer' and then she said 'it's going to hit us'.

"A couple of seconds later there was this enormous bang. It tore the front wing completely off."

The court was shown dashcam footage taken by an off-duty police officer of Mr Falconer's car being sent spinning across the road and also colliding with a third vehicle.

The court was told Mr Falconer was found "groaning" and unable to speak as a result of the injuries which he had sustained.

The tourist guide told the court he had sustained a traumatic brain injury, a broken ankle, and seven broken ribs and required two operations and extensive rehab.

He said his memory had been impacted as a result of the injuries and he had been off work for several months as well as the accident hastening the end of his relationship.

Fiona Fraser, 62, was driving the VW Tiguan behind Mr Falconer's car and her vehicle was also damaged, although she and her husband were not injured.

"We came round the corner and were aware of it coming towards us," she said. "We were maybe going at 50 to 55mph."

She said that after the crash she went to help Andrew, whose car was balanced down an embankment, and he told her the sun had been in his eyes.

Andrew said he had been driving for 66 years and the court was told that a civil claim over the accident injuries was also still ongoing.