A drink-driver crashed into a street lamp, forcing a woman waiting for a bus to run out of the vehicle’s path.
Accused Darrell Potts was told by Sheriff Kevin Drummond at Selkirk on Monday that he had placed the public in danger after what he described as “a shocking piece of driving”.
Potts was double the alcohol limit when he drove at excessive speed on the A7 near Kingsknowes, Galashiels, swerving on the road before losing control of the car and colliding with a street lamp.
Potts, 20, of Chay Blyth Place, Hawick, admitted driving a car on April 21 with a breath/alcohol reading of 70 mcgs – the legal limit being 35. The accused also pleaded guilty to driving dangerously and without a licence or insurance.
The court heard how Potts had borrowed the vehicle before going drinking. He picked up a friend, leaving Selkirk and heading towards Galashiels around 6.30am.
Another driver was aware of Potts travelling behind her at speed and he pulled out as if to pass, to be faced by an oncoming lorry.
“He stayed in the carriageway, as if playing chicken, and then pulled back in to avoid a collision,” explained prosecutor Graham Fraser.
“He was travelling at considerable speed, swerving around the roadway before he lost control and crashed into a lamp. A lady standing at the bus stop in Abbotsford Road had to run out of the path of the vehicle,” he added.
Police were contacted and a taxi traced, in which the accused was a passenger.
Iain Burke, defending, said his client fully co-operated with police, explaining: “He had been given the vehicle to do some work on for his friend, and had been out drinking when temptation got the better of him and he took it for a drive to get fuel.”
Mr Burke said Potts denied he had been “playing chicken”, adding: “He pulled out to overtake and didn’t have the power to do so.”
Sheriff Drummond disqualified Potts from driving in the meantime, deferring sentence for reports until July 8.