Fined for ‘classic case’ of careless driving

When Shane Johnson drove onto the Grantfield roundabout in Lerwick he crashed into another car.

Unfortunately, the vehicle in question was a new police car, which suffered extensive damage.

Johnson, 20, of Robertson Crescent in the town admitted careless driving when he appeared in the dock on Wednesday. The incident happened on 4th January.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said the crash had arisen from a “classic case” of a moment’s inattention.

The court heard Johnson had been coming from Commercial Road at the time. The police car had been driving off from the garage at Grantfield.

Mr MacKenzie admitted it could be a difficult roundabout to negotiate.

“It’s quite easy to fall into that trap where you’re looking for traffic coming from the Co-op side and failing to take account of vehicles coming out of the garage,” he said.

He added there had been “a fair amount of damage” caused to the police vehicle – although it has now been fixed and is back on the road.

“No doubt it was insured,” said sheriff Philip Mann.

Defence agent Liam McAllister insisted it, and Johnson’s car, were insured.

He said Johnson, an apprentice mechanic, was “a hard working young man” who was doing very well with his job.

Sheriff Mann described the offence as a “fairly minor example of careless driving” although it had resulted in substantial damage to the police car.

He fined Johnson £175 and imposed three penalty points.