Careless driver warned: 'It will be some time before you are driving again'
Ally McGilvray • Published 18 Feb 2012 13:30
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A CARELESS driver who smashed into the back of a car and then left the shocked motorist to call police has been fined a total of £400 and disqualified from driving for 15 months.
Twenty-two-year-old Stuart Storrie, from Hawick, had just bought the Peugeot in Dunfermline and was on his way home when he drove into the back of the Skoda after it slowed down to avoid a broken down vehicle on the A7 road at Middleton Moor.
He shunted the car in front 20 metres along the road, between Heriot and Gorebridge, and sent his vehicle spinning out of control before it came to a rest facing the opposite direction.
However, the farming student, who already had nine penalty points on his licence and was not insured, failed to stop and report the accident.
He was only caught after another driver spotted Storrie being towed away by his friends who had followed him in convoy and called the police.
Storrie, who has previously been banned for six months, admitted a series of motoring offences - including a charge of careless driving - when he appeared at the Justice of the Peace Court in Selkirk.
His solicitor, Ross Dow, said: "He felt the driver in front broke too quickly but he accepts he didn't keep a safe distance. It took him by surprise, he knew he wasn't insured and he panicked." But he added: "His intention was to insure the vehicle once he got home."
The court heard Storrie was likely to lose his job if he was banned from driving for more than three months. And Mr Dow pleaded with the court to use its discretion.
However, Justice of the Peace John Burns said he had no option but to deal with him seriously, given his record. Passing sentence, he warned Storrie: "It will be some time before you are driving again." And he added: "I hope by then you will be driving different."
This article appeared in Border Telegraph 17 Feb 12
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