Mark Stewart KC

The fatal accident occurred during November 2020 at the busy junction between A199 Harry Lauder Road and B6415 Portobello High Street.

The driver of the heavy goods vehicle approached the traffic lights intending to turn left via a slip road onto the A199. On the inside of the carriage way was a cycle lane leading up to the traffic lights. To access the slip road the lorry needed to turn left before the traffic lights meaning drivers had to cross the cycle lane.

With no give way or warning signs in place to show who had priority, those going straight ahead and those turning left were uncontrolled. A cyclist was coming up the inside of the lorry as the traffic lights changed and as the lorry turned left there was a fatal collision between the two.

Evidence was led over five days and the Crown case was that the lorry driver had failed to keep proper observation or use his mirrors. With no clear CCTV footage and limited eyewitness evidence, the prosecution was based on the police collision investigation and accident reconstruction report and tachograph analysis.

The police reconstruction evidence was detailed but following cross examination the sheriff decided it was defective, and the case was found to be ‘not proven’. Mark Stewart KC was counsel for the driver of the lorry.

Of interest is that the junction involved in the accident had been the scene of a nearly identical crash a short time before November 2020 and no action was taken to fix it. Following the second accident a decision was taken immediately to close the slip road and a short time later this was done.