Transport Scotland figures show A9 single carriageways are twice as deadly as dual carriageways with 199 injuries and 15 deaths compared to 114 injuries and seven deaths respectively
The SNP has come under fresh fire over its A9 dualling failures as Transport Scotland figures show that single carriageway sections of the road are twice as deadly as parts that have been dualled.
A freedom of information request shows that on single carriageways along the A9 there were 199 injuries and 15 deaths while on dual carriageways there were 114 injuries and seven deaths.
In the latest incident, one woman died and four people were seriously injured near Carrbridge.
Responding to last week’s fatal crash MSP Fergus Ewing (SNP) spoke of another “grievous tragedy” while Laura Hansler, of the Dual the A9 Group, reiterated that the road was not fit for purpose.
She said: “I was woken in the very early hours by news of this latest utterly tragic death. Another family’s life’s will now be irreparably affected by this horrendous and needless loss of life on this road, a road which simply isn’t safe nor ‘fit for purpose’.
In March, three separate incidents also claimed the lives of Roy Bannerman and a a 90-year-old man died after a collision near Newtonmore, while a 10-year-old girl was left in a critical but stable condition after a three-vehicle collision near Dalwhinnie. And then in May Aviemore woman Morven Gordon died at the Slochd.
That led the Scottish Conservatives to accuse the SNP of “betraying” the public over the projected decade-long delay to the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness.
The programme was due to be finished by 2025 but in 2023 then transport minister Jenny Gilruth finally admitted that completing it on time was “unachievable” – something the Scottish Tories say indicates the SNP’s “contempt” for rural Scotland.
Scottish Conservative candidate for Angus and Perthshire Glens Stephen Kerr said: “These terrifying figures lay bare the human cost of the SNP’s A9 betrayal.
“Lives continue to be needlessly lost on Scotland’s most dangerous road, as a result of the SNP’s appalling broken promises. It’s unacceptable that the main trunk road linking Perth and Inverness is still more than a decade from being fully dualled.
“It highlights the SNP Government’s contempt for the rural communities that rely on the A9.”
