A Forres man has urged motorists to take care at a notorious junction in the town, after colliding with a motorcyclist and causing him “severe” injuries.
Grant Macdonald was charged with careless driving following the accident in January, and appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday.
The 46-year-old admitted driving his black Mazda 5 into the path of an oncoming motorbike “without due care” at the junction from Market Street leading onto the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road.
The court heard that the motorcyclist suffered a punctured lung and fractured hip after being thrown from his KTM 125cc vehicle.
Macdonald, of Knockomie Rise in Forres, was fined £350 and had his driving licence endorsed with five penalty points.
Last night, the accused spoke out in an effort to prevent more accidents from taking place at the infamous spot.
Macdonald said: “I don’t want to take away from what happened to this young man, and my heart goes out to him.
“But that junction is notorious, I actually used to live near it and witnessed all manner of close shaves.
“What happened here is a cautionary tale, the only good that can come of it is in making others think more carefully at that junction.”
The crash took place at 6pm on Tuesday, January 31, as the motorcyclist was travelling towards Inverness and the accused was driving onto the A96 from Market Street and turning towards Elgin.
Defence solicitor, Stephen Carty, said Macdonald was a family man with three children, who had been working in Saudi Arabia for the past three months.
Mr Carty added: “This is an awkward junction at the best of times, with traffic coming in both directions.
“My client maintains that he looked left and right upon leaving Market Street and simply didn’t see the complainer.
“He thought it was safe to carry out the move.
“But he fully accepts that this accident was down to him, and that he should have kept a better eye on the road.”
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov said she had considered the “degree of culpability and recklessness” involved, before deciding to allow Macdonald to keep his licence.