
A veteran Greenock cabbie has been handed an 18-month driving ban and an electronic tag after a crash left a husband and wife with fractured sternums.
John Quinn, 61, caused the collision on December 12, 2024, when he failed to give way at a junction on Cartsburn Street, smashing his vehicle into a Renault Captur on Ingleston Street.
The impact forced the female driver of the Captur to lose control and crash into a stone wall at Dunns MoT Testing Centre.
Both she and her husband suffered facial injuries from the deploying airbags and were rushed to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley. In addition to a fractured sternum, the female driver suffered four broken ribs and two head wounds requiring ten stitches, spending two days in a high dependency unit where she needed oxygen to inflate her lungs.
Her husband also suffered a fractured sternum, while Quinn himself required stitches to a head wound.
Quinn, who pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving, had his driving ban reduced from 24 months to 18 months due to his early guilty plea.
Defence solicitor Anthony Boland told Greenock Sheriff Court that Quinn had not driven since the crash and noted his client "has been a taxi driver for 16 years without any blemish on his driving record."
Boland described the incident as a "momentary lapse in concentration" but acknowledged "it led to serious consequences."
Sheriff James Varney accepted that while the harm caused was severe, Quinn’s culpability was low. Alongside the driving ban, the Sheriff ordered Quinn to wear an electronic tag and remain at home during specified hours for 24 weeks.

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