A mobile restaurant business owner failed to stop for other traffic at a junction in Perthshire and rammed his vehicle into the side of another leaving its driver trapped in the wreckage with a perforated lung.
Samuel Turcu-Georgescu smashed into the other car on the A94 Coupar Angus to Perth road at a crossroads near Campmuir after apparently failing to observe a stop sign prompting him to give way to other traffic.
Perth Sheriff Court heard his car span 180 degrees over the road after colliding with the other car with such force the air bags went off and the driver was left trapped inside behind the remains of a door.
Depute fiscal Stuart Hamilton told the court police were of the opinion stop signs installed on each side of the junction should have been clearly visible to Turcu-Georgescu on approach.
He said the other driver who ended up being injured had been travelling in a south bound direction towards Perth when Turcu-Georgescu slammed into the side of his vehicle.
“He felt the door press into him which trapped him in the vehicle,” Mr Hamilton said.
The court heard emergency services had to use specialist cutting equipment to free the injured driver from the wreckage and he was then transported to Ninewells Hospital for treatment.
Mr Hamilton said the man was later discovered to have a hole in his lung as a result of the crash and it took him several weeks to recover from his injuries.
Turcu-Georgescu, of Hilton Avenue, Aberdeen, was originally charged with dangerous driving for failing to comply with a stop sign and colliding with the other car on April 29, 2019 but prosecutors accepted a guilty plea to a lesser charge of careless driving.
A solicitor representing Turcu-Georgescu told the court he accepted his driving that day was “unacceptable”.
“He accepts he should have been more attentive,” he said.
The solicitor went on to recommend the 36-year-old be allowed to keep his licence, however, arguing he had a mobile restaurant business to run with a number of employees depending on him as only he was able to drive the mobile business from one place to another.
Sheriff David Hall decided to disqualify Turcu-Georgescu from driving for three months after hearing he already had six penalty points on his licence at the time of the offence.
He also fined him £600, reduced from £750 to take into account his guilty plea before trial.
