Gavin Barrett: Taxi driver broke leg in road rage incident

Gavin Barrett was driving his black cab in the west end of Edinburgh when he got caught up in a dispute with the Uber motorist in December 2022.

Barrett was indicating to move into an outside lane but was refused access by the private hire driver, resulting in both vehicles ending up side by side.

Barrett, 61, believed that his wing mirror was about to be damaged and he leaned over and pushed the Uber car’s mirror inwards, leading to the other motorist exiting his vehicle to remonstrate.

During the “farcical” confrontation, Barrett was then said to have leaned out of his vehicle to shout at the driver but ended up getting his leg caught between the ground and his door.

His car then rolled forward and collided with a Micra that was ahead of him in the queue of traffic during the incident on the Capital’s Morrison Link, near to Haymarket Railway Station.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told that the taxi driver shouted out in pain and he subsequently found out he had fractured his right leg, leading him to spend the next six months off work recuperating.

'Cat-and-dog hostility'

The court heard that the dispute arose over who was to give way to the other and the resulting “low-speed” collision ended up with the Micra suffering about £350 worth of damage.

Solicitor Nigel Beaumont told the court that there was “an ongoing cat-and-dog hostility between black cab drivers and Uber drivers” in the city and there had been “a lack of courtesy and consideration” between the pair.

Mr Beaumont explained that one lane at the Morrison Link road was closed due to building works, resulting in Barrett attempting to move into the other lane but being denied by the Uber driver.

He said that while the cars were “side by side”, Barrett had wound his window down and shouted “what are you playing at?”, and had leaned out to push the Uber vehicle’s mirror inward.

The lawyer said the Uber driver then got out of his vehicle and punched the mirror of the black cab, causing it to smash, which infuriated the black taxi driver.

Barrett, of Forthview Road, Longniddry, then “saw red” and attempted to leave his own taxi but, as his vehicle was an automatic, as soon as his foot came off the brake pedal his car rolled forward.

His leg then became “jammed in the door”, resulting in the injury to his leg, and his cab rolled forward and struck the Micra in front of him.

The lawyer added that his client suffered a hairline fracture to his leg and could not work for six months. Since the incident, he has given up working as a taxi driver.

Mr Beaumont told the court the damaged Micra was 18 years old and the £350 cost to repair scratches to the paintwork must have been carried out at “the most expensive coach works in the country”.

'Defies belief'

Sheriff Peter Anderson told Barrett that he had became involved in “a farcical” episode.

Sheriff Anderson added: “It is ridiculous for a man of your age to act in the way you did and allow your loss of temper to carry on in the way you did.

“The obvious thing to do was to allow the other vehicle to go first if he wasn’t going to allow you in.

“This was monumentally stupid and has ultimately resulted in harm to you and harm to an utterly innocent person.

“It almost defies belief that, with your experience of life, you could allow that loss of control to take over as you did.”

The sheriff sentenced Barrett to pay a fine of £270 and said he was adding three penalty points to his driving licence.

Barrett pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of driving without due care and attention by opening the door of his vehicle while it was moving, failing to keep control of the vehicle and colliding with another vehicle, causing damage and injury to himself, at Morrison Link, Edinburgh, on December 30, 2022.