Driver fined for incident that saw lorry stuck under Inverness railway bridge
A LORRY driver delivering goods to a store in Inverness’s Longman industrial estate misjudged the height of a railway bridge and got stuck as a result a court has heard.
Sixty-year-old George Gneist’s error of judgment in the city’s Shore Street resulted in significant disruption to traffic on the road as well as the railway for more than two hours on October 31 last year.
Gneist, of Cove Road, Gourock, pleaded guilty by letter at Inverness Sheriff Court to a charge of careless driving by taking his lorry and trailer under the bridge – which carries railway traffic over the River Ness – when the height of the trailer was higher than the underside of the bridge.
Sheriff David Sutherland was told by depute fiscal Nial Macdonald that the unfortunate Gneist had a previously unblemished driving record as well as no prior criminal convictions of any sort.
The fiscal said that Gneist had been towing a double decker trailer and his intended destination at the time had been the B&Q store in Longman Road, Inverness.
“At about 8.45am he was in Shore Street and was aware he was approaching the railway bridge, “Mr Macdonald said.
“He misjudged how high his load was and effectively got stuck under the railway bridge.”
The fiscal said that the accused had been visibly upset when police officers had arrived on the scene of the incident shortly afterwards.
While trains were not prevented from crossing the bridge during the subsequent operations to recover the lorry they had to drive slowly as work continued.
One lane of Shore Street itself was also closed to traffic for a period of two-and-a-half hours as a result of the incident.
Mr Macdonald told the court that Network Rail had incurred costs to check the bridge afterwards but no structural damage was detected.
“Police indicated the accused was very remorseful,” he said.
Taking all the facts into account Sheriff Sutherland imposed a £400 fine and endorsed Gneist’s licence with three penalty points.
