Adobe StockA driver who wrote off two vehicles in a crash claimed he was distracted by his sat-nav.
Ronan O’Donnell was behind the wheel of his work van when he ran a red light in Glasgow’s Tradeston on January 7 last year.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard the 26-year-old collided with another vehicle, causing it to mount a kerb.
Both vehicles were extensively damaged and not drivable.
Police attended and found neither O’Donnell or the driver of the Ford Ecosport car to be injured.
O’Donnell, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, told officers that he was “unfamiliar with the roads” in the Glasgow area.
He also said: “I was distracted by my sat-nav as I approached the lights and I must have gone through a red light.”
The driver of the vehicle had to pay £400 of insurance excess at the time, which has since been reimbursed.
O’Donnell pleaded guilty to careless driving, having initially been charged with dangerous driving.
His lawyer Michael Stewart told the court that his client had been living in Scotland for three years and it was his first day driving in Glasgow city centre.
Mr Stewart said: “It was his second day as a site engineer, which is a supervisor role.
“He was driving and attempting to follow a sat-nav.
“He accepts his driving fell below a reasonable and competent driver.”
Sheriff Mary Shields put four penalty points on O’Donnell’s licence and fined him £210.
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