SECOND CRASH AT ACCIDENT HOTSPOT
Car veers down embankment only weeks after miracle escape on rural road
Local residents and councillors have reiterated calls for warning signs on an unclassified road between Muthill and Braco after another car crashed off the road and down a steep hill - the second incident in the space of a month.
Strathallan ward councillor Tom Gray described last month how one driver and their passenger miraculously escaped death as their car rolled five times down the hill at the side of the road.
And two weeks ago another car went off the road at the same spot.
Councillor Gray told the Herald: “Two incidents happened at the same location on the bend just south of Mill of Stepps Cottage.
“Both vehicles drove over the embankment, the first launching itself to land nearer the river than the road, and the other appeared to flip over the embankment to land on its roof.”
Another car has c rashed off the road and down an embankment on the unclassified road between Muthill and Braco - the second in the space of a month.
Local councillors have been calling for warning signs on the rural shortcut, which starts at Garrick and rejoins the A822 at the war memorial in Muthill.
Strathallan ward councillor Tom Gray described last month how one driver and their passenger miraculously escaped death as their car rolled five times down the embankment.
And two weeks ago another car went off the road at the same spot.
Councillor Gray told the Herald: “Two incidents happened at the same location on the bend just south of Mill of Stepps Cottage. Both vehicles drove over the embankment, the first launching itself to land nearer the river than the road, and the other appeared to flip over the embankment to land on its roof.”
Cllr Gray also said that in another incident a vehicle, which met a van on a blind summit, passed it on the left and landed on its roof in the middle of the road after striking scrub on the roadside.
Muthill and Tullibardine Community Council has been calling on Perth and Kinross Council to do more to make all roads in the area safer and has been showing council officers specific accident hotspots.
Community councillor Donald Hood believes there are a few factors at play with regards to the single track back road.
He told the Herald: “Speed and unfamiliarity are causing
those accidents. The vehicles are being put on that road by the sat nav. The two recently are lucky that there was no serious injury.
“There have never been signs on that road.
“Plus, when they were doing the pylon line they cut trees down. When you came down the hill, there used to be trees in front of you at that corner and the line of them gave an indication that there was something coming up.
So that and the sat nav I think has contributed a lot to this.”
Community councillor Davie Woods reiterated that drivers need to be more cautious on the back roads and adjust their speed accordingly.
Cllr Gray described the route as “lethal” and warned it is not a safe shortcut for those unfamiliar with it.
He said: “Five years ago a petition was signed by all households on this road.
“The problem is that anyone using a sat- nav device when travelling to Muthill, Crieff or Aberfeldy, from anywhere on the planet south of Braco it seems, is directed up this unclassified single track road.
“The route is very much a shortcut for commuters from north to south.
“However, when tourists or others unfamiliar with the road are added to the mix it becomes a lethal road.”
He added: “There is a clear need to have direction signs at both ends advising that traffic adheres to the A822. However, nothing has changed since the petition and the road is a serious concern.”
And along with fellow PKC
councillors, Cllr Gray has called on the government to address “inappropriate use of sat nav”. They raised the issue at the March meeting of Perth and Kinross Council’s environment and infrastructure committee, where a report on cycling, walking and safer routes projects was discussed.
A total of 18 projects are proposed over the next financial year 2022/ 23 in Perth and Kinross.
At the meeting, Cllr Gray called for the Braco/Muthill back road to be made a green route for cycling and walking with a reduced speed limit of 40mph.
He told the committee: “It’s a sat nav priority route - but it’s also a cycle route. Cyclists come along from Gleneagles to the Braco end, they come up from Dunblane via Kinbuck to the Braco end and many of these cyclists come up this way and take the back road to Comrie.
“It’s an extremely busy route and it’s extremely busy because sat navs are sending people there. It’s a fast route and it’s fairly straight and sends a lot of people from Crieff to Dunblane a minute quicker than they would have if they stuck to the main route.
“It desperately needs to be covered as a green route. It’s also a footpath for circular routes from Muthill.”
Perth and Kinross Council said signage on the A822 is being looked at, with priority being given to a hotspot on that particular route first.
A spokesperson told the Herald: “The location and prominence of all the direction and warning signs along the A822 are being assessed as part of a signing strategy for the route action plan.
“Renewal of the signs is programmed for 2022/23.
“Priority is being given to Bishop’s Bridge, where the council’s structures and flooding team has recently carried out repair works to the bridge.
“Upgraded signing will inform approaching drivers of the potential hazard ahead and enable them to adjust their speed and position accordingly.”