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news
Inverness Sheriff Court (Google Maps)Driver angered by cyclists "taking up the road" fined £1,000 after shouting abuse and careless driving
A driver, incensed by a group of cyclists he perceived to be "taking up the whole road", repeatedly sounded his horn, drove carelessly and abused the riders during an incident described in court as "at the upper end of careless driving".
Iain Macdonald was this week fined £1,040 and given five penalty points for his actions, which unfolded on the B9154 near Moy, around 20 miles south of Inverness, on May 1 last year.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard how the 63-year-old became angered by the group of six cyclists, who solicitor John MacColl, on behalf of his client, argued were "taking up the whole width of the road when there was no need to".
Macdonald drove close behind the group, repeatedly sounding his horn, before driving past and stopping ahead of them, a manoeuvre which forced the cyclists to take evasive action, The Inverness Courier reports.
"His position is that the cyclists were taking up the whole width of the road when there was no need to. He decided he wanted to speak with them, stopped and there was a robust exchange. Then he saw red and used industrial language," solicitor MacColl told the court.
"He has a number of jobs currently from Kiltarlity to Dunbar and he is concerned about the loss of his licence. He drives 30,000 miles a year and employs two people."
Ultimately, having admitted driving carelessly and threatening or abusive behaviour by shouting and swearing, Sherrif Ian Cruickshank said the offence was "at the upper end of careless driving", but decided against giving the motorist enough penalty points to see him banned from driving.
Instead, Macdonald received five penalty points and a £1,040 fine.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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41 comments
I feel that a copy of the revised Highways Code might be better...
Although it would appear that there's a certain segment of the driving public that would find that more offensive.
Plenty of cash in the business. A small fine relatively.
I don't understand why there's so much leniency given to people that drive as part of their job. Surely, those are exactly the people that need to be in control of their emotions and drive in a professional manner if only so that they don't run the risk of losing their licence.
Plant Operator doesn't mean he drives for a living, just that he drives to the locations.
Yes, but if he's using the ploy that he needs to drive to be able to do his job, then it's more or less the same thing.
I don't understand the leniency at all - 12 points should show you are incapable of driving properly & the dispensation given for 'special circumstances' should be removed, or at least it should mean exactly that & should be in the 10s rather than 1000s/10000s that have used it currently to keep their licence. If people know they can use it in court they will & their driving won't change
'took up most the road' yet was able to overtake, presumably in to the other carriageway and therefore contradicting himself.
Upper end of careless driving, shouldn't that be dangerous driving then?
I know. but remember drivers think cycling in the middle of the lane is cycling in the "middle of the road". He still close passed them as well which means he must have been on the grass on the other side from his solicitors descriptions of their cycling.
Decided against giving him enough points to ban him. Gives him five. Anyone think he was already on 6 points?
I would also argue that looking at the road on streetview, it is wide enough to overtake the cyclists if there is no traffic oncoming. Methinks the driver couldn't overtake safely due to this traffic. Still one of those in such a rush that they then have to brake hard in front of the cyclists to "speak with them".
Six cyclists could take up the whole width of the road - it'd be really inefficient, and I sincerely doubt that they did, but it is possible (much more likely he was angered by them taking up a single inch of the road).
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