Police doing 'utmost' to prevent further deaths on A9 after 'horrendous' period
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A senior police officer for part of the Highlands has said the force is doing its 'utmost to try and prevent further loss of life' on the A9 following a deadly summer on the road locally.
Inspector Craig Johnstone, Police Scotland’s area inspector for Badenoch, Strathspey and Nairn, described it as a 'horrendous period' on the 35-mile section of route.
He was providing an update to local Highland councillors at the latest area committee meeting held in Grantown on policing figures for the area from April 1, 2022 to the end of last year.
Inspector Johnstone said: “It goes without saying that this has been a horrendous period in which we have had an unprecedented number of fatalities on our roads.
“There have been six separate vehicle collisions which have resulted in a total of 10 fatalities.
“The causation factors for these accidents are wide-ranging and often unpredictable, complex and extremely challenging to counter against.”
It emerged at the meeting that police officers have already provided a private presentation to the local Highland councillors on the measures being taken by Police Scotland to tackle the shock rise in deaths since the start of last summer.
Inspector Johnstone said: “I would like to reassure you that a lot of our efforts are continuing in this regard.”
He continued: “The A9 was closed again (by Carrbridge) briefly on Monday morning with what could have been an extremely serious accident.
“Thankfully there were not any serious injuries but once again the causation factors could simply have not been predicted and were the result of a very unusual chain of events.”
In the annual police report, Inspector Johnstone stated that the fatal accidents had “deeply affected many of our local communities and had a significant impact on policing in the area”.
Outgoing Chief Inspector Alasdair Macleod, who is in charge of the South Area Command area for the Highlands, gave assurances to local councillors on the force’s efforts to improve local road safety.
He said: “We maintain and have increased our strong presence on our roads, enforcing road traffic legislation, improving road safety and investigating road traffic collisions.
“I share this particular area of concern given the notable increase in the number of fatalities over recent months. There are numerous efforts ongoing to try and reduce the number of accidents in the area and I know you have been briefed regarding the specifics of this.”
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The police’s other headline local figures for road safety were:
• Road crime offences have reduced by 38.1 per cent (219.2 fewer offences) against the five-year average and reduced by 5.6 per cent (21 fewer offences) against the last year to date (LYTD).
• Motor insurance offences have reduced by 26.4 per cent (6.8 fewer offences) against the five-year average and fell by 34.5 per cent (10 fewer offences) against the LYTD.
