Killer road safety plan threatens Highland life

Now police and road safety officials are demanding an end to the 30-year ban on service stations by the side of the notorious route in a bid to reduce the annual toll of misery.

Roadside services on the A9 were banned in the 1970s to preserve the economic lifeblood of Highland villages. Drivers have no choice but to turn off the road and drive a few miles to the nearest community for petrol and a rest.

But police, motoring organisations and even some councillors in the area want the ban - the only one in place on a British trunk road - to be lifted because many drivers press on when tired rather than making a time-consuming diversion.

Some drivers have been clocked at speeds of up to 130mph on the A9 between Perth and Inverness, which combines short lengths of dual-carriageway with longer single-carriageway sections and has been the scene of scores of fatal accidents over the past three decades.

The latest figures from Northern Constabulary show that the number of accidents on the road, used by around 4.5 million drivers every year, has increased by 10% this year. There were five fatal accidents.

Studies carried out by the government’s Transport Research Laboratory reveal that up to 20% of accidents on the A9 are caused by driver fatigue.

The main point of concern is the 80-mile stretch of the road, much of it single carriageway, between the Perth and Kinross border and Tomatin, just south of Inverness. The ban has protected incomes and jobs in villages along the route including Dalwhinnie, Kingussie, Newtonmore, Carrbridge, and Aviemore.

Companies such as Granada and Little Chef have had plans to open small service stations turned down in the past. A large supermarket chain is currently discussing sites with local landowners.

But a working group set up by Highland Council a year ago to investigate the impact of the ban recommended that it should stay in place as long as limited toilet and rest facilities were provided at 25-mile intervals with improved signs promoting the bypassed villages.

However, the group’s recommendation was overturned last month by Highland Council’s planning committee, which narrowly voted 14-12 to lift the ban completely.

The villain of the piece in the villages south of Inverness is Jimmy MacDonald, the city-based councillor who forced a vote on the ban.

"I realise that I will not be on the Christmas card list in Badenoch and Strathspey this year but I have a thick skin," he said. "This ban has been in place for more than 20 years and is no longer necessary. There is plenty of support for lifting it among the people of Inverness, who are the ones that use the A9 on the most regular basis.

"They are the ones most at risk because they often push on to Inverness even if they are tired, simply because there is nowhere for them to stop for very long stretches."

The police and the motoring organisations were all in favour of lifting the ban on the grounds of safety, MacDonald added.

Northern Constabulary has been set a government target of cutting deaths and serious injuries on its roads by 40% by 2010.

Laura Fisher, the force’s road safety officer said: "From a road safety point of view we would encourage any development that would encourage drivers to come off the road if they are fatigued," she said. "Tiredness is one of the biggest causes of accidents."

A spokesman for the AA said it was "delighted" that the council was moving towards scrapping the ban.

The standard bearer for the ban supporters is Basil Dunlop, the councillor for Grantown-on-Spey, who said lifting the restriction would be the "death knell" for many communities along the A9.

"Inverness is doing very well at the moment in attracting jobs and new development and I do not think councillors there realise how detrimental lifting the ban would be for everyone in this area."

Stuart Hutton runs the petrol station at Dalwhinnie, which takes 70% of its business from A9 travellers. "If a service station is located between here and Inverness then I will have to close. It’s as simple as that," he said.

The crunch will come next week, Dunlop said, when the full council meet to either ratify or reject the earlier vote. If the ban opponents win, the council will open talks with Scottish Executive.

"Then we will just have to accept it," Dunlop said.