Teenage driver killed and two injured in early-morning smash

The 17-year-old motorist, who has yet to be named, was pronounced dead at the scene on the A93 near Meikleour, five miles south of Blairgowrie.

He died when his blue Mini collided with a white Ford Fiesta van shortly after 6:30am.

His front-seat passenger, a 19-year-old man, had to be cut free from the wreckage. The 50-year-old driver of the van was also injured.

A spokeswoman for Tayside Police said: "The front-seat passenger in the Mini was trapped in the car and had to be cut free by Tayside Fire and Rescue.

"He was unconscious and was taken by ambulance, accompanied by a trauma team, to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

"The driver of the van was taken by ambulance to Ninewells Hospital with facial and suspected spinal injuries."

She added: "At this stage it is not clear which direction the vehicles were travelling in at the time of the collision.

"The road has been closed while crash investigators work at the scene."

Meanwhile, an Iraq war veteran who killed the mother of a road crash victim after overtaking a string of cars at speed, has been jailed for four and a half years.

Stefan Ruszkai lost control of his Vauxhall Corsa in August 2008 and skidded round a bend on the wrong side of a road in Fife.

He collided with a car driven by Wendy Halliday – who had lost her daughter in a road accident three years previously.

Mrs Halliday, 45, suffered a brain injury and multiple fractures and died later.

Former soldier Ruszkai admitted last month a charge of causing death by dangerous driving on the A914 Cupar to Pitlessie road on 6 August, 2008. Yesterday Judge Lord Brailsford jailed the 23-year-old at the High Court in Glasgow for what he described as "very bad driving" which "fell into the higher band of culpability".

He told Ruszkai – who has previous speeding convictions – that the sentence would have been six years but for his guilty plea.

The court previously heard that Ruszkai, of Tanna Drive, Glenrothes, overtook four cars in a row at around 70mph and then negotiated a blind bend on the opposite side of the road.

The laundry firm driver tried to swerve back on to his own side, but soon lost control and smashed into Mrs Halliday's Volvo.

Ian Duguid, QC, defending, said: "He is truly sorry and remorseful at this situation.

"This is a family that has previously been affected in a not dissimilar way."

Mr Duguid also told the court Ruszkai had fought in the Iraq war and had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder on leaving the army due to his experience of "gunfire, deaths and explosions".

The judge also banned him from driving for ten years.