Post date: Aug 13, 2012 12:0:0 PM
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (FEBRUARY 2012)(NINE NETWORK) - A man in his eighties, who drove his car and caravan for 12 km (7.5 miles) in the wrong direction along a busy motorway in Australia has had his licence taken away, his lawyer said on Monday (August 13).
An elderly Australian man drives his car and caravan for 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) on the wrong side of a three-lane main road and has his licence cancelled.
Closed circuit television footage of the incident in February 2012 showed Ronald Jackson driving against head-on traffic in Melbourne.
Operators of the Citylink Toll Road said they closed the fast lane to oncoming traffic, and one of its vehicles tried to stop Jackson.
Jackson's lawyer Peter Flynn said his client's only previous offence was a single speeding ticket nearly 30 years earlier.
"He'd never driven badly before, he was under some health issues, and he won't be driving again in Victoria," Flynn said.
Flynn said Jackson had unknowingly suffered a stroke in the lead up to the incident which could have caused his confusion.
The court heard that the man had held his license for 63 years and had passed a driver refresher course not long before the incident.