Central Scotland News AgencyAn elderly hit-and-run driver has avoided a jail term after ploughing into a cyclist on a roundabout, sending him flying into the air and seriously injuring him.
Charles Wallace, 81, failed to give way to the 78-year-old cyclist, despite it being daylight and the cyclist, who was already on the roundabout, being in hi-vis yellow cycling gear with a continuously flashing red rear light.
He collided with the cyclist, who was thrown into the air and onto the bonnet of Wallace’s Hyundai Connect before landing headfirst on the tarmac at Manor Powis Roundabout on the outskirts of Stirling, just a few miles from his home in Alva, Clackmannanshire.
The cyclist was knocked instantly unconscious and aided at the scene by other drivers while Wallace drove off, leaving his victim on the road.
The victim was blue-lighted to hospital with a broken collarbone, soft tissue damage, severe bruising, cuts to the ear and eyebrow, and hand injuries. The bike sustained damage to the rear wheel.
A court heard that after the incident, Wallace’s licence was revoked by the DLVA pending an eyesight test, but an allegation that his eyesight had been defective at the time of the collision was dropped by the prosecution. His lawyer blamed his elderly client’s “reflexes”.
Wallace, of Larbert, Stirlingshire, a first offender, pleaded guilty at Stirling Sheriff Court on Tuesday to causing serious injury by careless driving on the A907 near Stirling, at 2pm on November 12, 2025, and failing to stop and give his details.
Lucy Clarke, the depute fiscal, said: “As [the victim] crossed lanes to exit the roundabout, the accused failed to keep a proper lookout and collided with him, propelling him into the air and over his bonnet, causing him land head-first on the ground, knocking him unconscious.
“Members of the public stopped to assist [the man], who was motionless on the ground, and phoned an ambulance.
“The accused stood nearby but failed to provide his details to anyone at the scene before driving away in his vehicle.”
Police traced Wallace from his registration, that had been noted by others at the scene.
He told officers he hadn’t seen the cyclist.
He said: “It was a wee bit dull. He was on the inside and should have been over a bit. It just happened that quick.”
Solicitor Marcell Horvath, defending, said Wallace had sold his car and was not going to be driving again.
He said: “He suffers from osteoarthritis, atrial fibrillation, hypertension and kidney disease. His great-niece has power of attorney for his welfare.
“He should have yielded. It was a miscalculation and perhaps someone with quicker reflexes would have caught that sooner.
“I understand compensation was made to the complainer through the insurance.”
He said the reason Wallace left the scene was that he had “panicked”.
He said: “He ought to have stayed around.”
Sheriff Neil Kinnear said: “I’m not at his age thinking about prison, and getting reports about unpaid work with his conditions seems pointless.”
He fined Wallace £865 and banned him from driving for three years.
He told him: “Your carelessness resulted in quite serious injury to [the victim], who was riding his bicycle. It is very lucky he’s made a full recovery. Hitting him and sending him over the bonnet could have had much more serious consequences – he could have been killed.”
The victim was described as an experienced cyclist who normally rode around 180km a week without incident.
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