A learner driver in Scotland escaped serious injury after a lorry crashed into their car during a lesson in Fife.
Instructor Shanna Smith freed her learner near Bothwell Gardens in Dunfermline. Dashcam video showed the lorry hit the Peugeot 206 at a junction. Glass flew, the impact knocked off the rear dashcam, and debris landed all over the road.
Shanna said they approached lights turning from green to amber and she braked at the line to help her pupil stop. Just then, the lorry hit them hard, with both immediately in shock and panic. Shanna had to pull the tight seatbelt off her pupil.
Shanna drove them both to the hospital afterwards, where doctors checked them over, finding only minor bruising. Shanna’s left side took the brunt of the impact, and she still has neck pain from the crash.
Photos showed debris scattered on the road after the accident. The lorry’s licence plate fell off during the impact, the learner car’s back window shattered completely, and the rear of the car now has a huge dent.
Shanna became an instructor in August after previously teaching HGV driving in the army. This incident is a learner’s worst nightmare, she said, asking drivers to be more careful around new drivers. Shanna now works for Ross Muirhead School of Motoring.
Her pupil wants to drive again, which Shanna finds very encouraging, as she feared the pupil would be too traumatized to ever drive again. Shanna finds it hard telling a pupil to slow down because other drivers often speed up at lights.
She thinks the lorry driver likely thought they would go, reiterating to her pupils that they must stop at lights. Learner cars must be treated with extra care by other people because the cars have visible “L” plates for clear warning.
Another car sped past in the right lane earlier; anyone could have crashed into them. Luckily, the damage wasn’t worse, and the lorry driver did brake after all.
Police Scotland has been contacted for comment on this accident.