Elderly driver voluntarily gives up licence following crash
AN elderlv driver has voluntarily given up her licence after causing a crash which resulted in a heavily pregnant passenger having to undergo an emergency section.
Eighty-four-year old Irene Morrison, Barbaraville, Invergordon, was driving north on the A9 in Ross-shire when the smash happened at around 1.25pm on Sunday, February 21.
She made to turn right off the trunk road at the Barbaraville junction but as she did so, collided with an oncoming vehicle.
The charge against her stated that she had failed to keep a proper look-out and turned right across the opposing carriageway into the path of oncoming traffic, causing a car to collided with her vehicle.
Alison Wyllie, prosecuting at Tain Sheriff Court today, said: “One of the people in the vehicle the accused struck was eight months pregnant and she was trapped in her vehicle for a while. As a result, the child was then delivered by way of an emergency section but all was well.”
Ms Wyllie said Morrison herself had been badly injured, sustaining a number of fractures and ending up in the high dependency unit at Raigmore Hospital.
Morrison, who admitted careless driving, did not have legal representation but was accompanied by her son who sat in the dock with her.
He told the court: “She has voluntarily surrendered her licence and so disqualification will not be a problem for her.”
Nodding her head in agreement, Morrison, a first offender, said: “I will not be driving again.”
Sheriff Jim Scott admonished Morrison because of her lack of record and also because of her limited financial means.
But the sheriff said that, were she to hold a licence again, it would automatically be endorsed by six penalty points.
