Taxi driver claims sat nav cause him to drive wrong way along Exeter dual carriageway A taxi driver who followed his sat nav ended up driving the wrong way along a dual carriageway in the early hours of the morning.
Anthony Ryan caused a crash after he did a U turn on the A30 dual carriageway and ended up driving towards oncoming traffic.
He then did a second U turn to go to the aid of the driver he had caused to crash into the central reservation.
The 58 year old cabbie admitted careless driving on the A30 near Exeter, Devon, in May.
He told Exeter magistrates court he lost his bearings in the pitch dark after hitting major roadworks on Telegraph Hill and Splatford Split.
He said he was driving an intoxicated female passenger from Torquay to Exeter but she was unsure of where she was heading.
The self employed cabbie said:”I got confused. I had one eye on the sat nav. The lady was not sure where she was going. I was driving along and the sat nav told me to turn round.
“I did a U turn like a silly man. I did not overtake any cars coming towards me.”
He said he drove for about a quarter of a mile the wrong way down the dual carriageway before a driver braked heavily and swerved to avoid him and struck the barrier leaving him with minor wounds and whiplash.
Prosecutor Lyndsey Baker said Ryan, of Osprey Drive, Torquay, had got on to the A30 the wrong way after ‘losing his bearings’.
His tipsy passenger claimed he passed up to three vehicles going in the right direction before he made his second U turn to face the right way again – something he denied.
District Judge Stephen Nicholls said:”It was a serious matter.”
He fined him a total of £785 and put seven points on his driving licence but Ryan escaped a ban which would have ruined his business.
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