Sat nav distraction and hire car confusion amongst causes of serious A9 crashes
Drug driving, being distracted by a satellite navigation system and a foreign driver not familiar with the controls of a hire car have been some of the causes of serious crashes on the A9 locally in recent months.
Local police chiefs provided the breakdown which revealed a wide variety of factors being responsible for the accidents which have marred the summer.
Craig Johnstone, Police Scotland’s area inspector for Badenoch, Strathspey and Nairn, has outlined the main causes leading to the crashes on the local stretch of the A9.
He revealed the details at the latest meeting of Highland Council’s Badenoch and Strathspey area committee which took place at the Courthouse in Kingussie.
Inspector Johnstone told councillors: “I will give you a very generic and brief summary of the causation factors which have led to the accidents in recent months.
“I do this to provide a degree of the challenges which we face but also because of the continuing and understandable concerns of the local community.
“More than one recent accident has led to the A9 being closed appear to have been due to vehicles being driven from junctions and across the carriageway and the drivers not noticing on-coming vehicles they were passing in front of.
“Another accident appears to have been caused by the driver being under the influence of drugs and another under the influence of alcohol.
“There was a driver being distracted by a sat nav which was another contributing cause and a suspected medical episode was another factor in another of those accidents.
“Another one seems to have been a foreign driver not being familiar with the controls of their vehicle.”
Inspector Johnstone added: “Clearly the A9 is not closed on a whim and it is generally only done so for an extended period of time when injuries sustained are likely to be life-threatening and an investigation is required.”
