Driver who caused high speed smash on A1 at East Lothian avoids road ban
The sheriff said it was ‘extremely fortunate’ that no one was seriously hurt
A travel agency driver has avoided a road ban after his careless driving caused a high speed smash on the busy A1 in East Lothian.
Zhihang Lin, 32, forced a vehicle to crash into a central reservation barrier after swerving his black Mercedes car into the fast lane of the dual carriageway while driving at 70mph.
Lin was recorded carrying out the manoeuvre by the damaged vehicle’s dash-cam between the Spott roundabout on the outskirts of Dunbar and Thorntonloch on August 7 last year.
The police were called out to the accident where they found Lin’s Mercedes parked up in a lay-by and he identified himself as the driver.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told all the relevant checks and procedures were carried out by the officers and none of the occupants required medical attention.
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The court heard the damaged Vauxhall’s dash-cam footage showed Lin crossing a solid while line before pulling out into the fast lane and causing the collision.
Lin, of Dunfermline, Fife, was arrested and initially charged with dangerous driving but he pleaded guilty to an amended offence of careless driving when he appeared at the capital court on Monday October 26.
Defence agent Cameron Tait said his client has been living in the UK since 2013 and is employed by a travel agency as a people carrier driver.
Mr Tait asked the court for leniency as Lin would lose his employment if a driving ban was imposed.
Sheriff Ferguson agreed to the motion and marked the offence by issuing Lin with eight penalty points and fined him a total of £580.
The sheriff said: “I appreciate this happened probably in a split second.
“You made an error to pull out in the way that you did and it was extremely fortunate no one was badly injured.”
Lin pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle carelessly by crossing a solid white lane and driving into the path of a vehicle and colliding with it and forcing the vehicle into the safety barrier of the central reservation on the A1 between the Spott roundabout and Thorntonloch, East Lothian, on August 7 last year.