The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Documentary welcomed
Road safety campaigners have welcomed a hard-hitting documentary that will tell the real-life stories behind the notorious A9 and is due to be aired later this year.
ROAD SAFETY campaigners have welcomed a hard-hitting documentary that will tell the real-life stories behind one of Scotland’s most dangerous roads.
Due to be aired later this year, Life and Death on the A9 follows the people who keep the road moving, including Police Scotland and Transport Scotland officers.
It will reveal the shocking impact that accidents have along the main route between the north and south of Scotland.
Campaigners hope it will “act as a wake-up call” for the Scottish Government and underline the need for the dualling programme between Perth and Inverness to be brought forward.
Mike Burns, who is spearheading a fight against the introduction of average speed cameras on theA9, toldThe Courier it highlighted the “very real” dangers on the route.
He added: “The issues of the A9 are complex — and the road has suffered from years of neglect.
“The programme serves as a reminder of the causes of accidents on the A9, which thousands of drivers want to see sorted in a professional manner that addresses the root cause of accidents, as opposed to gimmick knee-jerk solutions.”
Short clips of the documentary, which is being produced by IWC Media, were released by the BBC earlier this month.
The trailers include candid interviews with a haulier who regularly drives along the 269-mile route between Scrabster, near Thurso, and Polmont, near Falkirk, and two police officers.
Perth-based officer PC Fraser Cameron told of his “dread” at having to attend incidents on the A9.
He said: “Unfortunately, we have attended a number of fatalities on the A9 now and I’d rather get by without having to attend these things, but unfortunately they do happen.”
HGV driver Alex Stewart describes the road as the “artery route” for transporting goods between the north and south of Scotland, saying there is “only one way in and one way out”.
The problems of the A9 were previously highlighted in the final episode of the documentary series Coppers, which aired on Channel 4 two years ago.
Camera crews joined officers on the Pitlochry beat and the episode revealed that they were usually the first emergency service on the scene of any accident.
Over the past ten years, 76 people have died as a result of accidents on the road between Perth and Inverness.
Preparatory works to upgrade 80 miles of single carriageway are already under way and the £3 billion project is due to be completed by 2025.