A driver has admitted causing the death of a much-loved Turriff grandad in a terrifying three-vehicle crash in Aberdeenshire.
The collision, on the A947 Turriff to Newmachar road, tragically resulted in the death of joiner Anthony Duncan, 62, who had been driving a van on the route on December 11 2020.
Kyle Reid, the accused, had overtaken Mr Duncan’s van before losing control and crashing into an HGV.
That collision caused “catastrophic damage” to the lorry’s steering and braking and it drifting into the opposing carriageway where it struck Mr Duncan’s van head-on.
Mr Duncan’s passenger and business partner Stuart Morrison suffered devastating injuries in the crash and had to give up working as a result while Reid broke his spine and was bedbound for 18 months, the High Court in Aberdeen was told.
Following the tragedy, the family of Mr Duncan, who was known fondly as Web and was a committee member at Turriff United FC, spoke of their heartbreak and paid tribute to him.
Reid, 27, appeared in the dock at the High Court and admitted a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
Advocate depute John Keenan KC told the court: “The accused carried out an overtaking manoeuvre of the van driven by the deceased at the locus.
“Whilst there is no criticism of that manoeuvre, he lost control of his vehicle after moving back into his lane of travel.
“He was driving in excess of the speed limit and too fast for the road conditions at the time.
“The loss of control directly led to a three-vehicle collision and the death of Anthony Duncan and serious injury to Stuart Morrison.”
The court heard the crash happened near Mill of Kingoodie, where the speed limit is 60mph.
It occurred during the morning while light was low and the road surface was wet from rain.
Reid had been driving a silver Ford Focus owned by his mother.
Mr Duncan had been driving a Volkswagen Transporter work van with Stuart Morrison seated in the rear.
Reid was driving south on the A947 behind Mr Duncan, while Michael Malone was driving his curtain-sided lorry in the opposite direction.
As the car and van finished negotiating a bend, Reid and a witness in a Volkswagen Golf, overtook Mr Duncan’s van.
Mr Keenan told the court: “On returning to the correct side of the carriageway however, the accused lost control of his vehicle which oversteered to the nearside.
“The accused attempted to correct this but in doing so oversteered, entering the northbound carriageway and colliding with the front offside of the lorry.
“The Ford Focus then left the carriageway, coming to rest in a field to the east side of the road.
“As a result of the initial collision, the front offside wheel assembly of the lorry was catastrophically damaged such that the driver no longer had directional control of the vehicle, causing it to veer into the southbound carriageway, where it struck the VW Transporter van head on.”
Mr Duncan’s van left the carriageway and came to rest on its roof in the same field as Reid’s Ford.
Mr Keenan said: “It was immediately apparent that Anthony Duncan had died in the collision and life was pronounced extinct by the ambulance crew.
“Screaming could be heard from the rear of the van and eventually witnesses who had stopped to help and the emergency services were able to gain access and free Stuart Morrison from the rear where he was covered with debris and the contents of the rear of the van, including tools, which had been thrown around in the collision.
“He had suffered life-threatening injuries. He was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he was admitted to the intensive care unit.”
Mr Morrison spent the next three months in hospital and underwent multiple operations to treat a number of injuries, including a bleed on the brain and fractures hip, pelvis and neck.
He was discharged in March 2021 but has required further surgery since, including a full hip replacement.
Mr Morrison was unable to return to work and lost the joinery business he owned with Mr Duncan, the court was told.
The most recent update, from May 28 this year, was that Mr Morrison is still awaiting further surgery but has been fit enough to return to work part-time.
Danger driver was bedbound for 18 months
Meanwhile, Reid was freed from his vehicle by emergency crews and taken to hospital by ambulance.
He suffered serious injuries, including a broken back, but which were not deemed life-threatening.
Reid was discharged from hospital after around a week but was bedbound for 18 months.
He received intensive physiotherapy to enable him to walk again and has recently been deemed fit enough to return to work on a part-time basis.
Reid was arrested and interviewed on September 20 2021.
A collision investigation report concluded that “the cause of this sequence of collisions is human error”.
Dashcam footage from the lorry was examined and showed Reid losing control of the Ford and colliding with the HGV.
Mr Keegan told the court: “The damage imposed by the first collision prevented the driver avoiding the second collision.”
The investigation concluded Mr Duncan had been driving “normally” and that he had reacted to the unfolding situation in a normal timeframe.
Sentence deferred
Calculations showed Reid’s Ford was travelling at around 71mph during the loss of control.
Mr Keenan said: “It is the collision investigators opinion that this series of collisions occurred as a result of error on the part of the driver of the Ford.
“On entering into the left-hand bend, the rear tyres of the Ford lost traction and slid outwards, causing the vehicle to rotate anti-clockwise.
“The driver attempted to correct this oversteer, however, overcorrected which caused the vehicle to rotate clockwise losing control of the vehicle and colliding with the lorry in the north lane.”
Sentence was deferred on Reid, of Church Avenue, Insch, until next month at the High Court in Glasgow.
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