Support grows for A82 safety campaign following tragic deaths of Inverness family
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SUPPORT is growing for a campaign by the Cousin family to improve safety on the A82.
Samantha Cousin made a plea in Tuesday’s Courier for the trunk road to be made safer after her son Rhys, his wife Gemma (nee Davidson) and their daughters Peyton and Heidi were killed in a car accident near Fort William two weeks ago.
After voicing her concerns, regional MSP David Stewart lodged a Parliamentary Question to establish what the Scottish Government’s action plan is for improving the A82.
And Stewart MacLean, who runs the A82 Partnership campaign group, declared there was “no margin for error” while driving on its 167 miles.
Mrs Cousin said she was already hearing of people who were refusing to travel on the road in light of the tragedy. And she called on anyone with concerns to share them with their MP, MSP and councillors.
“I want people to sit up and take notice,” she said. “Changes need to happen on this road to bring it up to date.
“On the night of the accident it was down to bad weather. No-one was to blame. But that does not mean that if the road had been better maintained that the accident would have happened.
“Every time you hear of an accident it is on the A82, and when you look at the high number of deaths and accidents, it doesn’t take a genius to think that something needs to change.”
Mr Stewart, who is a long-time road safety campaigner, said: “While the cause of this terrible road accident is not clear, evidence is clear that the A82 has a history of tragic road deaths and serious injuries and lack of investment is causing unimaginable suffering for families like the Cousins and the Davidsons.
“I have tabled a Parliamentary Question asking the Scottish Government what improvements and investments have been given to the A82, and in which locations, since 2016 – and I have asked for a detailed outline of all the works which are scheduled to be carried out in the future.”
Mr MacLean said: “The Forgotten Road seems a fairly apt way to describe it because there are a number of issues that will only be resolved with major infrastructure investment.”
In the last six months, on the section of the A82 between Fort William and Inverness there have been eight deaths, including that of nurse teacher Chloe Morrison from Drumnadrochit.
Mr MacLean added: “The road is narrow in places, so narrow in fact that there is no margin for error.
“On many roads in Scotland there is a bit of give, but with a high volume of lorry movements on the A82, and the narrow width of the road, you cannot take your eyes off the road for a second, or be distracted at all. As we have seen time and again, it is lethal.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “As part of standard policy, officials will meet with the police and BEAR Scotland to obtain more detailed information on this accident.”
Related article: Grieving mum calls for action on A82
