A drink-driver crashed seconds after heeding the siren call of an ambulance and pulling over on a busy dual carriageway.
Robert Martindale, 59, drank four cans containing alcohol before setting off in his 2007-plate Chevrolet on the A1 at Gateshead on Thursday, May 27.
He gave way to the emergency crew and allowed several other vehicles to pull back onto the road and move in front, a court heard.
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But when he accelerated back into his lane, he smashed into a car ahead, leading to a police prosecution for drink-driving.
Prosecutor Ben Woodward said: “The defendant was involved in a road traffic collision on the A1 bypass.
“When police arrived, they assessed him as looking intoxicated. He failed a breath test.
“He was taken to Forth Banks police station where the CAMIC procedure was undertaken.”
Mr Woodward said Martindale, of Oakwood, Whitehills, Gateshead, gave a reading of 56mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.
Martindale defended himself at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to drink-driving.
He told the hearing: “I had consumed four cans of alcohol in the late afternoon.
“I went to get something for my bait for work, thinking that I was ok.
“There were road traffic works at the time and I pulled in to let an ambulance pass.
“Four or five other vehicles passed me, and I pulled out. The road was clear.
“Another vehicle pulled out in front of me, but I didn’t have time to stop, even though I applied the brakes.”
Magistrates handed Martindale a 15-month driving ban and fined him £377, with £85 court costs and a £38 victim surcharge.
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