A director of an Aberdeenshire construction firm has been heavily fined after he drove through the barrier at a level crossing as the train was approaching.
Keith Sim, 46, accelerated under the barrier and found himself trapped on the line at Insch Rail Crossing, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Thankfully, a quick-thinking signal controller was on duty at the time and managed to raise the barrier so that Sim could get his car off the tracks.
Sim, who owns Sunnyside Construction, had been “under pressure at work” at the time of the incident, his solicitor said.
Fiscal depute Christy Ward told the court that at around 12.26pm on August 18 2020 Sim’s white van was seen by the signal controller approaching the North Road crossing.
“He saw the vehicle slow as it approached then accelerate past the first closing barrier and the red flashing lights,” Ms Ward said.
“It then came to a stop on the tracks of the crossing, just short of the second barrier.
“The witness then had to take immediate action to stop the barrier from striking the vehicle by stopping the blades.
“The motor vehicle then had to reverse back in the direction it came.
“The witness noted the vehicle’s registration and contacted Transport Police.”
Sim ‘under pressure at work’
Sim pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to comply with a road traffic sign at a railway crossing.
Defence agent Ian Woodward-Nutt told the court that Sim had been driving since he was 18 and had a clean driving licence until this incident.
He added that due to Sim’s job as a company director for a construction company, his client has to drive a significant amount every year.
Mr Woodward-Nutt also stated that Sim disputed that he had accelerated as he approached the red lights at the crossing.
“This occurred because my client was thinking about work when coming to the lights,” he said.
“He was under pressure at work and I would ask the court to accept that this was a momentary lapse in attention.”
Sheriff Graham Buchanan told Sim he would proceed on the basis that his actions were a “bad case of careless driving” but that he would face a “substantial penalty”.
Sheriff Buchanan fined Sim, of Sunnyside Avenue, Drumoak, a total of £1,500 and placed seven penalty points on his licence.
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