The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Man charged with careless driving after A9 accident
A 37-year-old man from Inverness has been charged in connection with an alleged careless driving incident at a junction off the north’s busiest road.
The crash happened on the A9 Inverness-Thurso road, at the junction with the B9176 Skiach-Contullich road, near Alness in Rosshire.
Six people – a mother and son in one car and a family in the other – were involved in the collision.
The mother of the one driver spent a week in hospital and the passengers in the other vehicle walked from the wreckage moments before it burst into flames.
The incident was captured on a dashboard camera, or dash-cam, by one of the drivers involved.
Dash-cam owner Erland Ryan, 23, from Alness, said: “I had to take a week off work due to various aches and pains throughout the week but my mum, who was my passenger, was in hospital all week.
“I’ve since mostly recovered and it’s more mental/psychological pain I’ve been experiencing.”
A picture of the aftermath of the crash showed Mr Ryan’s damaged car, with the bonnet is crumpled back towards the windscreen with the driver’s front wing bent beyond recognition.
The passenger and driver’s airbags are seen to have been deployed with fluids from the engine seen forming a puddle under the wreck.
Several viewers made comments on the dashcam pictures clip online yesterday.
One, Donna Matheson, said: “Unbelievable. You’re very lucky!”
Yesterday a police statement said: “Police Scotland can confirm that a 37-yearold man from Inverness has been charged in connection with an alleged careless driving incident on the A9 on June 18, 2017. A report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.”