A82 more dangerous than A9 – new road accident figures

New figures from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show that the number of road traffic accidents on the A82 is more than double that of the notorious A9.

In the last three years, they report that there have been 186 accidents on the Dumbarton to Inverness A82 road compared to 75 accidents on the A9 road connecting Perth and Inverness.

This has resulted in 6 more deaths on the A82 compared to the A9.

Why is the A82 so dangerous?

The A82 is a trunk road with the added danger of a higher speed limit coupled with a winding road.

Some road safety campaigners claim that there is an increased amount of traffic on this road and a lack of investment which is the reason behind an increase in road accidents.

Campaigners are calling for an increase in investment from the Scottish government to make the A82 a safer route for everyone.

Are people opting for the A82 over the A9?

Currently the A9 has received huge investment by Transport Scotland to dual the A9 and implement speed cameras along the road.

Campaigners claim this has resulted in some drivers avoiding the average speed cameras on the A9 and opting for the A82 road instead.

Have changes to the A9 made the road safer?

Some of the main reasons behind accidents on the A9 were attributed to speeding and overtaking vehicles.

So far, the implementation of speed cameras has resulted in a reduction in the number of road accidents and the average number of people killed.

However even one fatality is one too many and the dualling of the road should help reduce the number of fatal road accidents further.

Stay safe when driving

Whatever road you are driving on, remember to keep your speed down and if overtaking, only do when it is safe to do so. Give enough room and make sure there are no vehicles approaching in the other direction.