A hit-and-run driver who fled the scene after causing a serious crash on an Aberdeenshire road has been urged to give himself up to police.
Kane Coates’s car was left a write-off and he and his disabled mother Glenys were both injured after he was forced to swerve violently when a silver Ford Focus cut across his path.
He narrowly avoided hitting an oncoming vehicle before slamming into a roadside kerb.
The self-employed labourer suffered damaged muscles in his lower back, and his mother – who uses a wheelchair – sustained spinal injuries.
Police have already appealed to witness to the incident on the A952 between Toll of Birness and Mintlaw to contact them.
The driver who caused the accident sped away from the scene of the crash towards Longside, while other motorists stopped to help.
Last night, 24-year-old Mr Coates said: “Basically, I was coming from my girlfriend’s house, taking my mum home to Clola.
“We reached the crossroads with the Longside to Stuartfield road and as I’m coming up a car turns across in front of me.
“I slammed on the brakes and swerved across the road but there was another car coming the other way so I had to push the power again and it’s done a 180 degrees spin and we hit the kerb.”
Yesterday Mr Coates was told his black Peugeot 206 has officially been written-off and unless someone comes forward to accept responsibility, his insurance company will not pay out to replace the vehicle.
However, no one at the scene of the crash was able to take down the Ford’s registration number.
But Mr Coates and his mother have not given up hope of someone owning up to the incident.
He said: “I went to hospital and I’ve pulled several muscles. It’s still sore a week later. It’s keeping me out of work as well.
“My mum, who uses a wheelchair, damaged her spinal muscles and she’s still laid up.
“Anyone who might have seen what happened could help track this person down.”
Mr Coates and his family are also in no doubt that the incident, which happened around 7.50pm on Thursday, January 8, could have been ended very differently.
There have been two fatal, head-on collisions on the stretch of the A952 between Mintlaw and Toll of Birness in the last three months.
In an appeal posted on social media, Mr Coates’s girlfriend, Suzanne Bond, said: “Must be someone out there that has seen this and police are on the lookout for this guy as they could have been killed.”
A police spokesman said: “If anyone has information that could help us get in touch with the driver of the Ford Focus, it would help the progress of the inquiry.”
The A952 is a busy commuter route used by people travelling to and from Aberdeen.
There have been two fatal accidents on the road since the beginning of October and several other people have been seriously injured.
Henry McPherson died after his grey Vauxhall Corsa which was involved in a collision with a blue Ford Focus C-Max on October 3.
The crash happened at a series of bends near Clola and Mr McPherson, 61, died at the scene.
On December 8 Bulgarian student Mira Slavova was killed on the A952 near Toll of Birness in an early morning crash.
The 22-year-old, the top student in her class at Robert Gordon University, was travelling to a work placement at the St Fergus gas terminal. The male driver of the other vehicle sustained serious injuries.