Taxi driver ploughed into pedestrians on crossingA TWO-TIME speeding offender taxi driver ploughed into two people on a pedestrian crossing while on his way to pick up an early morning fare.
Joseph [edited by admin] ran a red light and caused the man and woman to smack their heads off of his windscreen before they tumbled injured onto the road.
The 54-year-old — who has been stripped of his taxi licence — caused the 8.25am incident in Greenock’s Nelson Street by having a ‘momentary’ lapse in concentration, a court was told.
Prosecutor Saud Ul-Hassan said: “The pedestrians pressed the button and waited for the lights to change to allow them to cross.
“As they got halfway across the road, the accused approached in his taxi and failed to notice the red signal.
“He continued through the crossing without braking and struck both people with the front bumper, grille area and bonnet of the car.”
Fiscal depute Mr Ul-Hassan added: “Both pedestrians rolled towards the windscreen and struck it with their heads and bodies.
“Thereafter they were propelled upwards towards the roof and then forward and onto the road.”
Greenock Sheriff Court heard how the man and woman ‘sustained head injuries’ in the crash and were taken to hospital in an ambulance.
They also had severe bruising and cuts to various parts of their bodies — including their knees, ankles, arms and shoulders.
[edited by admin] — who admitted to police at the scene that he was to blame — was initially charged with dangerous driving but this was reduced to the lesser offence of being careless.
Mr Ul-Hassan said: “There is no evidence to suggest that the accused was driving beyond the speed limit.”
The court was told that [edited by admin] was driving his Ford Focus estate cab to collect a passenger at Ardgowan Hospice last December when the incident occurred.
His defence lawyer, Aidan Gallagher, said: “It would appear that momentarily he has been distracted and this coincides with the persons emerging onto the roadway.
“He hasn’t been keeping the careful watch that he should.
“Thankfully persons were not injured badly.”
The cause of [edited by admin]’s momentary lapse was not relayed to the court.
Solicitor Mr Gallagher said: “His taxi licence was revoked the following day by the licensing authority and he has not worked since the incident.”
[edited by admin] — who had been working as a cabbie for four years — has two previous convictions for speeding and currently has three penalty points on his licence.
Sheriff Derek Hamilton told him: “It seems to me that the information before me is consistent with this being not a high speed incident.”
[edited by admin], of Regent Court, Greenock, was fined £450 and had six penalty points imposed on his licence — putting him one further offence away from being banned from the roads under the totting-up procedure.
source:
http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/news ... -crossing/
Login
Register
FAQ
