Taxi Driver Online

Where to start with this?

Can't remember if I even knew about this - or maybe just forgotten about it, and didn't realise it was as bad as it was. Not a road I'm on every day, but know it well, and I'd guess it was probably a Cupar-based taxi travelling towards St Andrews or elsewhere in NE Fife, or maybe even Dundee. (Cupar is in the same zone as St Andrews, but largely a separate market in terms of taxi businesses, etc.)

But it's on the main north Fife road, and is one of those villages on a busy A-road. There's a long straight road on approach to the village where it's common for cars to be motoring, but no evidence here that speed was a factor. It was cocaine (see what I did there? ).

More seriously, although obviously a very serious accident, some of the phraseology here is a bit overblown, in my opinion at least

I mean, he had cocaine in his system, but I'd guess 'coked-up' is probably exaggerating things - I suspect sleep deprivation probably more of a factor, as the narrative maybe suggests. If he'd been off his face on coke, I'd guess the levels would have been stated, rather than simply the fact that he was above the limit, and no real suggestion here that that was the direct cause of what happened...

Likewise, 'joyrider' seems to be overegging things a bit. It doesn't read like he stole the car/took it without owner's consent in the normal sense, therefore...

This first report is from a few weeks ago, and from the Daily Record. The second sentencing report is from the Courier, and the photos are all from the latter...


Coked-up joyrider fell asleep at wheel before ploughing into taxi

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scot ... p-35561505

Josh McBride - who was 16 at the time - fell asleep and drifted into the opposing carriageway before smashing into the cab being driven by Garry McInnes.



A 16-year-old joyrider fell asleep at the wheel after taking cocaine and seriously injured three people after crashing head-on into a taxi.

Schoolboy Josh McBride, 19, nodded off and drifted into the opposing carriageway before smashing into the cab being driven by Garry McInness.

A heroic witness arrived at the scene and dragged three of the victims from the blazing wreckaghe of the vehicles after initially thinking they were dead.

A passing fire crew - on their way to a training exercise - were able to bring the burning cars under control as medics took the victims to hospital.

Dundee Sheriff Court was told that unqualified McBride had driven his friend's VW Golf across the country to try and stay overnight at a family caravan in St Andrews.

But when they couldn't access the caravan, McBride and his friends spent the night sleeping in the car before setting off to drive to Livingston the next morning.

McBride, Hamilton Gardens, Armadale, admitted driving dangerously and under the influence of drugs in Main Street, Dairsie, Fife, on 2 October 2022.

He admitted seriously injuring Gordon Docherty, Garry McInness and Joseph Brownlie by falling asleep, driving on the wrong side of the road, and crashing into a VW Touran taxi.

Fiscal depute Emma Farmer told the court: "The accused was 16 and at school at the time. He did not hold a driving licence. He and Joseph Brownlie went out in the early hours."

She said they got in the third person's car with them and decided to drive to St Andrews. At the time of the crash McBride had three passengers.

"They were unable to gain access to the caravan. They attended the beach and slept in the vehicle. At 7.30 am they woke up in the car. Mr Brownlie asked if McBride would drive to Livingston."

At one point in the journey, Mr Brownlie became aware of the vehicle crossing the centre of the road and he shouted at McBride but got no reaction as he was asleep.

"Mr Brownlie grabbed the steering wheel to try and avoid a collision. The Golf was observed to drift over into the opposite carriageway and into the path of Mr McInness' vehicle.

"There was extensive damage to the front of both vehicles. A witness looked at Mr McInness and thought he was dead. The vehicle was going on fire.

"The witness also found two males on top of each other in the rear footwell and he thought they were dead. A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crew were passing on their way to a training exercise.

"They assisted with the extinction of the fire before it took hold. McBride was identified as the driver. He provided a positive saliva test for cocaine."

The court was told Mr Brownlie sustained multiple spinal injuries, while Mr Docherty had a fractured collarbone as well as whiplash injuries and bruising.

Mr McInness, who had no memory after picking up his fare in Cupar, sustained several fractures and a torn spleen and was unable to leave the house for two months after the crash.

He was only able to return to work in an office-based role at the taxi firm, and later had to give up a job as a bus driver because of the anxiety he suffered from.

Sheriff Gregor Murray imposed an interim driving ban on McBride and granted him bail while pre-sentence background reports are prepared.

Fair bit of rehash here, obviously, but this is the Courier rather than the Daily Record.

And looks like he got off relatively lightly


Coked-up teen sentenced for Fife fireball car crash

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/co ... sentenced/

Josh McBride was just 16 and asleep at the wheel when he caused the crash in Dairsie in north-east Fife.

A teenager who caused a car to burst into flames after a catastrophic crash in Fife was narrowly spared a jail term.

Josh McBride, 19, was still at school when he fell asleep at the wheel and smashed into a taxi on Dairsie’s Main Street.

The two men in the taxi suffered serious injuries with McBride’s passenger also injured.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard how one witness believed they were dead after the October 2022 early morning, head-on collision.

Then 16, McBride had cocaine in his system when he drove a friend’s Volkswagen Golf back from the St Andrews area to West Lothian.

McBride, of Armadale, returned to the dock for sentencing having previously admitted causing serious injury through dangerous driving.

Sheriff Gregor Murray said: “Two men suffered significant injuries and at least one continues to suffer difficulties, possibly for the rest of his life.”

The court was told previously how McBride asked pal Joseph Brownlie for directions on his mobile phone before causing the crash.

Prosecutor Emma Farmer said: “Mr Brownlie was looking at his phone and heard a noise of a car going over something like cat’s eyes.

“The car started to go over the middle lane and Mr Brownlie shouted at McBride but there was no reaction from him.

“Mr Brownlie grabbed the steering wheel to try and avoid a collision but it was too late.”

The Golf collided with the Volkswagen Touran taxi being driven by Garry McInness who only remembered waking up in Ninewells Hospital.

His passenger, Gordon Docherty, looked over to Mr McInness after the horror crash and thought he was dead.

The court was told how the vehicle started to go on fire with another driver finding two men in the Golf “on top of each other” that “appeared dead”.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crew was on its way to a training day when it came upon the crash and provided assistance.

Mr Docherty suffered a fractured left collarbone and bruising while Mr McInness suffered a leg injury that required the insertion of a metal rod.

Ms Farmer said the driver had to give up work because of his anxiety and initially returned to employment in an administrative role.

It was revealed Mr Brownlie had multiple spinal injuries which required surgery and the use of a back brace.

Defence solicitor Graeme Runcie said: “It’s accepted by Mr McBride that this is an extremely serious matter that had serious and indeed long-lasting consequences.”

The lawyer said McBride had to repair his relationship with his family because of their shame over his actions.

As an alternative to custody, McBride was ordered to perform 225 hours of unpaid work, placed on supervision for 12 months and disqualified from driving for 45 months.

He was also made subject to a restriction of liberty order (8pm-6am) for eight months.

Sheriff Murray said: “If you breach any single part of these requirements whatsoever, a three-year sentence will be imposed instead.”

Here's another cracker - the Courier's article uses the word 'fireball' in the headline. But the Courier's first article before the sentencing didn't make it sound quite so dramatic:


Hardly sounds like a 'fireball' there

And the Record's original piece said:


Again, doesn't really sound like a 'fireball' there

The Courier's first headline also used the word 'schoolboy', which I don't suppose is inaccurate or particularly sensationalist.

And note also the way it downplays the cocaine aspect - simply 'in system' - as compared to their most recent 'coked-up' headline, thus repeating the Daily Record's phrase:


Schoolboy driver with cocaine in system fell asleep and caused devastating Fife crash

Photos from DC Thomson/the Courier here. It was at the Cupar end of the village, and the A-road turns into a very long straight on leaving the village, as the photos suggest, but don't show properly. The third photo is from the other end of the village obviously stopping traffic from going through to the accident site at the far end of the village (and too big to display on here).





https://wpcluster.dctdigital.com/wp-con ... 6x1024.jpg

Anyway, anyone notice a possible link with a local licensing issue I've been banging on about on here

No.

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IDFIMH

To some, that's quite a light sentence, but courts don't like jailing youths, and this idiot was only 16 at the time.

An eight-month curfew is also viewed as being in custody at home.

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IDFIMH

So I wonder if the sticker requirement was related to the incident above

To that extent there is some sort of rationale, except it would be interesting to know what would have happened if there had been a huge fire - would the passenger have scarpered, tried to drag the driver out of the way, or tried to find the fire extinguisher? And could the latter have possibly endangered the passenger, possibly in a scenario where the driver could have been dead anyway?

So it all still seems a bit contrived, and possibly demonstrating why other authorities say that extinguishers shouldn't be carried - it could actually cause further danger as opposed to dealing with any hazard

(A wee irony is that if I haven't been on the bit of road for a few weeks, then the one time I will be on it is when I'm going for the annual inspection - the council depot is two miles along the road from where the accident took place.

And although the testers take the car out themselves to test the meter these days, in the past when I've been in the car with them I'm pretty sure I recall turning the car round at the wee school junction in the second photo to head back to the depot...)