Taxi driver fined £720 for hitting cyclist on Christmas Eve

A taxi driver who was fined after colliding with a cyclist has been warned over his future conduct.

Donald MacPherson was ordered to pay £720 and handed five penalty points following an incident on Christmas Eve 2020.

Police Scotland objected to his bid to renew his licence for another three years as he had been convicted of driving without due care and attention.

Mr MacPherson argued the incident was “not as clear cut as it’s made out” and claimed two Chinese students, who would have been witnesses for the taxi driver, had left the country before it went to court.

Glasgow’s licensing committee agreed to grant the licence for a restricted period of one year but issued a warning. They also told Mr MacPherson he must undergo a medical next month.

A Police Scotland officer told the committee the taxi driver had collided with the cyclist, causing minor injuries, as he was on his way to pick up passengers.

Mr MacPherson said: “I did have two witnesses to say that it wasn’t my fault. The two witnesses were Chinese students, who were the two customers I was picking up.”

But he said, before the case went to court, the girls “had left the country and went back to China and my solicitor said it would be better that I plead guilty”. He added the witnesses “saw it all” but “the incident happened in December, I didn’t get charged until the following May”.

The taxi driver claimed he couldn’t see the cyclist approaching. “She had no high vis clothes, no light on her bike etc,” he added. “She was dressed extremely badly for the time of the year and the time of the day.”

He told officers it was around 4.45pm on December 24 and he was turning into the road from a stationary position. “As I turned, both of us collided at the same point,” he said.

“I’ve been driving taxis for 30 years and this is the only issue that I have in that period. I’m not a careless driver.”

Cllr Alex Wilson, the licensing committee chairman, said: “You’ve now got eight points on your licence which is incredibly close to being banned from driving.”

He proposed granting the application for a restricted period, while Bailie Jim Kavanagh, seconded by Cllr Thomas Kerr, suggested awarding a full three-year licence. Cllr Wilson’s motion, seconded by Cllr Eunis Jassemi, passed by four votes to three.