Revealed: The Scottish roads with the highest death tolls this year

Analysis shows non-pedestrian fatalities up on 2023

The A9 has recorded the highest number of deaths on Scotland’s roads so far this year but several other trunk routes have a proportionately higher toll, according to analysis by The Scotsman.

Scotland’s longest road has recorded at least seven fatalities, excluding pedestrians, five of them between Perth and Inverness, according to information on crashes sent to the media by Police Scotland. The latest came on Tuesday, when a driver died in a collision with a lorry and two cars at Ballinluig, south of Pitlochry.

There have also been five deaths on the A96 between Aberdeen and Inverness this year, which, at just over 100 miles, is a similar length to the notorious central section of the A9.

They included two people in a car killed in a crash with a lorry and van near Inverness in February, and a car driver killed last week in a collision with a lorry between Brodie and Forres.

The A75 between Gretna and Stranraer, which is almost 100 miles long, has seen four fatalities in 2024, but there have been the same number on the A76 between Kilmarnock and Dumfries, which is nearly half its length.

The single carriageway A75 is a key freight route between England and Northern Ireland via the Cairnryan ports | Stuart Walker/SWSTA

An even shorter road, the A941 between Lossiemouth and Rhynie in the north east - which unlike the others is a local authority-run road - has also recorded four deaths this year.

There have been three deaths on the A85 between Oban and Perth, and two each on the A70, A71, A77, A720 Edinburgh City Bypass, A737, A82, A83, A91 and A93, which are a mix of trunk and local authority roads.

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The figures, among at least 115 non-pedestrian fatalities this year - compared to 108 for the whole of 2023 - are but a snapshot, and vary year-to-year across different roads.

However, they starkly illustrate the challenge the Scottish Government has set itself of eliminating all road deaths by 2050 - and halving them by 2030.

They come as campaigners press Transport Scotland for upgrades to improve safety on such trunk roads, for which it is responsible.

Among the most vocal is the South West Scotland Transport Alliance, pushing for faster progress on the single-carriageway A75 - a key lorry route between England and Northern Ireland via the Cairnryan ports, near Stranraer, which are the UK’s fifth busiest.

The group, which includes ferry operators Stena Line and P&O, is also urging enhancements to the A77, which connects Cairnryan to Glasgow.

Transport Scotland last week announced work on options to bypass the last villages on the A75 - Springholm and Crocketford - thanks to funding from the UK government, even though it is not responsible for roads in Scotland.

Crocketford in Dumfries and Galloway is one of the last two villages on the A75 to be bypassed | Stuart Walker/SWSTA

However, veteran campaigner and Stena Line regional ports operations manager Andy Kane said that must just be the start.

He said: “A wider programme of improvements along the A75 and A77 needs to follow as these are roads of key national interest. Improving safety on them needs to be a priority. As ferry traffic increases, these roads are becoming less safe as well as less environmental and economically efficient.”

Meantime, the separate A77 Campaign Team said that road had been plagued by landslide threats for a decade.

Our week-long special news series on the A9 continues | NationalWorld

Team member and Stranraer councillor Willie Scobie said the route had been reduced to one lane just north of Cairnryan due to landslides in both 2014 and 2018, but after repairs were finally completed this year a further landslip risk was identified and the restriction remains, causing mile-long traffic queues at busy times.

He said: “The disruption to hauliers with same-day deliveries is astronomical and firms have subsequently moved their operations to Irish Sea crossings in the north of England.”

Mr Scobie said a Transport Scotland survey had found 93 per cent of drivers were dissatisfied with the state of the road, which had been closed 166 times between January and September for repairs or after crashes.

He said: “The A77 needs a complete new road brought up to dual carriageway standard to access the only ferry port in the UK not served by a dual carriageway or motorway.”

South Scotland SNP MSP Emma Harper, who has campaigned for A75 and A77 improvements since being elected eight years ago, said: “The reduction of danger on parts of the roads for everyone is the prime consideration.”

She said the Scottish Government’s Strategic Transport Projects Review 2 blueprint, which has been paused due to lack of funding, included improved junctions, widening carriageways to ease pinch points and climbing lanes where slow-moving traffic could be safely overtaken.

In the north east, the Scottish Conservatives described the A96 as “Scotland’s most dangerous road”, where there have been 12 deaths over the past five years.

Gordon and Buchan MP Harriet Cross said that reflected the “tragic reality” of the SNP’s decision to “backtrack” on its pledge to dual the whole road by 2030 at a cost of some £3 billion as part of a now-lapsed power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens.

She said: “The SNP’s reluctance to come clean on the prospects of the road being dualled is causing further upset to families whose loved ones have tragically died or been injured on this horrendous route.”

Road safety consultant Neil Greig urged spending to be focused on “eradicating the least survivable crash types” such as by replacing T-junctions on major routes with slip roads, and dualling to eliminate head-on collisions.

Transport Scotland said it assessed the safety performance of the trunk road network annually.

Its spokesperson said that “robust, evidence-based approach ensured the funding available can be prioritised to those locations that offer the possibility of delivering the greatest casualty accident savings across the country”.

“We remain committed to improving the A96,” the spokesperson said. “The current plan is to fully dual the route and, as part of this process, we have been undertaking a transparent, evidence-based review of the programme”.

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop is to update MSPs on it next week.