Three killed and one injured in pile-up at accident blackspot in Cumbernauld

By CRAIG BROWN
Published on 02/08/2012 00:00

THREE men were killed and another injured in a three-car pile-up at an accident blackspot in Cumbernauld yesterday.

The accident occurred shortly before 12:45pm on the A8011 Central Way dual carriageway near the Cumbernauld Theatre, known locally as Wilderness Brae.

Strathclyde Police said a silver Mercedes car, travelling northbound, is thought to

have crossed the central reservation and collided with

a southbound dark-coloured Ford Focus.

A third car, a light-coloured Fiat Punto, was then caught

up in the aftermath of the collision.

A police spokesman said that the 30-year-old driver of the Mercedes died at the scene,

as did the 34-year-old driver of the Ford and his 46-year-old

passenger.

The 71-year-old driver of the Fiat Punto was taken to Monk-lands District General Hospital where he received treatment for his injuries and was later

released.

Inspector Keith Prentice of the divisional road policing unit at Motherwell urged witnesses to the crash to come forward.

He said: “Our inquiries have revealed that several motorists stopped at the scene just after the crash occurred, and I

would like to appeal to those people, who may have crucial information, to get in touch with officers.”

He said that the A8011 linked Cumbernauld to the M80, and at the time of the crash it would have been busy.

The road was the site of

another serious car crash in 2007, in which Francis Keegan, 51, and Sandie Warnock, 16, were killed.

In the wake of that accident, North Lanarkshire Council lowered the speed limit on the road from 70mph to 50mph in 2008, and introduced a mobile speed camera and a vehicle-activated sign to inform drivers if they were speeding.

But local residents last night took to Twitter to highlight

how the road remained a black-spot.

One tweeted: “So sad three where killed in Cumbernauld today. The amount of accidents that happen at Wilderness Brae is ridiculous.”

Another stated: “3 people killed in a crash in Cumbernauld. Too much ‘roadside artwork’, not enough crash barriers. That road has been a deathtrap for years.”

Jamie Hepburn, SNP MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, called for the local authority to do more to make the road safe.

“This is tragic news and I want to express my condolences to the families of the victims,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is not the first time that there has been a serious accident on this stretch of road; indeed, these are not the first fatalities.

“I will be writing to North Lanarkshire Council – not for the first time – about this stretch of road, to request that they

look at what further safety measures they can put in place at this location.”

A council spokesman said that it would be inappropriate to comment while the police investigation was continuing.