A Dutch holidaymaker has admitted careless driving after being clocked doing speeds of more than 100mph on the NC500.
Steven van der Stroom was enjoying his 23rd holiday in Scotland when he was caught speeding on the popular tourist route.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that Van der Stroom often drives classic cars on his travels, but on this occasion he was tackling the road trip in his “normal” car.
The 56-year-old tourist was initially charged with dangerous driving, but his guilty plea to a lesser charge of careless driving was accepted by the Crown.
He appeared on undertaking just three days after the incident.
NC500 speeder faced swift justice
The court heard that police had liaised directly with the procurator fiscal’s office so that the matter could be dealt with while Van der Stroom was still in the country.
Fiscal depute David Barclay told the court the offence that took place on Monday.
He said: “Police officers were doing speed checks. Shortly before 1pm they noticed a motor vehicle on a good stretch of road obviously going too fast.
“The speed peaked at just over 100mph.”
Van der Stroom was stopped and explained to police that he was doing the NC500 and was here temporarily as a holidaymaker.
His solicitor John MacColl said his client regularly holidays in Scotland and had visited the country 23 times “normally driving classic cars.”
However, on this occasion, the tourist was “driving a more normal car.”
Mr MacColl said: “The road opened up in front of him, he tells me there was nothing else moving on the road. He didn’t appreciate his speed.”
Sheriff Sara Matheson gave Van der Stroom six penalty points and fined him £640.
