'Sign up to A82 safety petition to save others from pain' urges grieving mum who lost son in a crash in September; Kelly Scott has backed the Inverness Courier's 'A82: Make it Safe' campaign and has called on Highland residents to show their support too
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A GRIEVING mum is pleading with people to sign the Courier’s petition to improve safety on the killer A82.
Kelly Scott, whose son Liam died aged 21 in September after an accident on the road, spoke about her devastation.
Liam died from his injuries two days after a vehicle crashed into the motorbike he was riding pillion on.
Ms Scott said her son’s life was “ripped away from him in a blink of an eye”.
The A82:Make it Safe campaign calls on the Scottish Government to make the road an urgent priority for safety funding.
The A82 is the second longest trunk road in Scotland at 167 miles, and runs all the way from Inverness to Glasgow, via Fort William. The road also holds the unenviable title of the most dangerous in Scotland due to the high number of accidents and deaths.
Ms Scott said: “My son died from an accident on that road on September 2 2020, after spending two days in a coma.”
Liam would have celebrated his 22nd birthday in October. Ms Scott described her son as a “much loved person, who was game for a laugh, and just wanted to live his life to the full”. She continued: “But instead it was ripped from under him, in the blink of an eye.”
Liam was passenger on his friend’s Suzuki motorcycle when the driver of a Volkswagen Golf Estate crashed into them.
Ms Scott continued: “The bike the boys were on was stationary, waiting to turn in at Duck Bay, near to Alexandria.
“The car went straight into the back of them, throwing my son 20ft into oncoming traffic.
“He was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow, and was in a coma for two days before he was pronounced brain dead.”
The 23-year-old rider of the motorbike was taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, from where he was later discharged. The 46-year-old car driver was unhurt.
Ms Scott said that in the wake of her son’s death, she visited the spot where he died and was appalled at the state of the road.
She said: “I have a petition running for this road, for the same reason as The Inverness Courier.
“The stretch of road goes from Glasgow to Fort William and Inverness, and after researching this, my son’s life isn’t the only life that has been taken due to the accidents on this road.
“The speed limit on this road changes at various points, apparently for the safety of drivers and the public, but there has to be something else put in place.
“For instance, traffic lights as you are approaching the Duck Bay Marina and at various other points on the road, in order to help reduce the speed.
“I need justice for my son.”
To sign The Inverness Courier petition visit tiny.cc/a82makeitsafe.
To also sign Ms Scott’s petition visit www.change.org/p/dumbarton-council-reduce-speed-on-the-a82-loch-lomond-road.
