by Niki Greig
An Australian pensioner who towed his caravan for 12 kilometres the wrong way down a motorway has had his licence revoked.
The incident, which happened in February, took place on the Citylink Toll road in Melbourne, Australia. Other vehicles had to swerve out of his way to avoid a collision, including an HGV lorry.
The driver, 81-year-old Ronald Jackson, was filmed on several CCTV cameras blindly ignoring all oncoming traffic. Local authorities say that they closed the fast lane in an effort to stop the pensioner and one of their vehicles tried to intervene but was ignored by Jackson.
Yesterday (13 August) a lawyer for the defendant argued that he had unknowingly suffered a stroke in the lead up to the accident that could have caused him to become disoriented and confused.
The court heard that the driver had held his licence for over 63 years and his only previous offence had been a speeding ticket acquired over 30 years earlier.
He had also recently passed a driving refresher course not long before the incident.
Mr Jackson pleaded guilty to reckless driving and was fined 1500 Australian Dollars (£1,000). Local motorists can return to the road safe in the knowledge that Ronald won’t be driving again in Victoria State.
Watch the video below to see Mr Jackson causing a trail of devastation.
