A LORRY driver has admitted causing the death of a father by crashing into his broken down car at the side of a road.
Andrew Dominick ploughed into the back of Archibald Graham's Range Rover - which had run out of petrol - in May last year. Mr Graham was on the phone to his son at the time but the line cut out as the lorry hit his car.
Dominick, who works for haulage and logistics firm Malcolm's as an HGV driver, smashed into the back of Mr Graham's car on the A737, just outside Paisley, on May 7, 2013.
Paisley Sheriff Court heard yesterday that Dominick had left his firm's yard in the Renfrewshire town of Linwood at about 5.30am on the day in question.
As he was travelling along the road at about 55mph he failed to spot Mr Graham's vehicle, which was resting at the side of the road with part of the vehicle mounted on a grass verge.
Amanda Gallagher, prose-cuting, told the court Mr Graham had been on his way to work as well that morning and had broken down. She said: "There were no mechanical defects but it had been starved of fuel."
Mr Graham had failed to put his hazard lights on after breaking down and he remained in his vehicle, phoning his work and his son to tell them he would be late and that he had broken down.
The phone call to his son, who was not named in court, was cut short as 64-year-old Dominick crashed into the back of his car.
The crash left Mr Graham trapped in the vehicle with what Ms Gallagher described as "extensive chest injuries, including two tears to his aorta, collapsed lungs and spinal fractures".
The emergency services were called and Mr Graham was rushed to the Royal Alexandra Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 6.47am. The cause of death was given as a result of fatal injuries caused by the crash.
One witness who stopped to try and help Mr Graham spoke to Dominick, who said that he had not seen the car because the sun was so low.
Police investigating the crash ruled that "the majority of the blame" for the crash lay with Dominick and he was arrested and charged over the incident.
When he appeared in the dock yesterday he admitted causing Mr Graham's death by driving without due care or attention and crashing into the car after failing to notice it at the side of the road.
Lindsay MacNeil, defending, told the court that condensation could be seen on the windscreen of Dominick's vehicle in footage shot from a CCTV camera mounted to the dashboard of his lorry.
But she said it did not impair his view of the road because the condensation was "below the sight of the driver, around the edges of the window".
She added: "The driver's view is above it. The vast majority of the car was on the carriageway - that's why there was such an impact between Mr Dominick's vehicle and Mr Graham's."
She also said that Dominick "wanted to express his remorse and sincere condolences to Mr Graham's family for this accident".
Sheriff Seith Ireland called for a report and deferred sentence on Dominick, of Greenock's Nelson Street, until next month.
He also banned him from driving indefinitely, adding: "You're not allowed to drive any vehicle whatsoever."
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