A trucker who lost control of his lorry on the A82 and ended up in a field thinks an animal may have run out in front of him.
Gregor Lawrie was travelling in his Mercedes HGV near Drumnadrochit when he collided with a fence and travelled down an embankment.
His solicitor told Inverness Sheriff Court that Lawrie told police he could not explain how the crash had happened.
Lawrie, 52, was not present at the hearing, where solicitor Rory Gowans entered a plea of guilty to a single charge of careless driving on his behalf.
Fiscal depute Emma MacEwan told the court the incident had occurred on April 11 2021.
Lorry driver ‘lost control’
She said: “Upon negotiating a slight right-hand bend he lost control of the vehicle and left the carriageway, colliding with a fence, travelling down an embankment and coming to rest in a field.”
Police who attended the scene were told that Lawrie was “unaware” of how his vehicle had left the road.
Lawrie was initially taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness and was later cautioned charged and arrested.
He told officers: “I’ll never understand that.”
Solicitor Rory Gowans, for Lawrie, said his client was a “very experienced HGV driver” who has held a driving licence since the age of 17.
Animal could have caused crash
He said: “To this day he struggles to understand what happened here.
“He thinks an animal of some kind ran out in front of him. As an experienced lorry driver he should have been able to deal with that.
“He is fortunate that nobody sustained any injury.”
Sheriff Sara Matheson banned Lawrie, of Glencoe, from the roads for six months and fined him £320.