Updated: Campaign of disruption mooted in A9 crossing dispute

I find it sad that the DfT and other bodies only approach to reducing fatality figures is to straighten roads; place anti-skid surfaces on corners and junctions; and rumble lines on the approach to junctions and roundabouts; dual-carriageways that suddenly run out!!

Last week I have had a near misses with a tuition vehicle minus the learner! If this is the standard of driving demonstrated by the instructor I hate to see what he is teaching the learner driver!

The sooner tuition is sorted out the better - motorway driving and cycle awareness are two that spring to mind!

There is a need to design safety into roads because people don't drive as they are supposed to. Let's face it though, how many of us know the specifics of road rules in other countries we visit? Just because you don't know the law doesn't absolve you from guilt should you break the law - ignorance is no defence.

In total agreement with mad_scot_rider. I have used the A9 on numerous occassions. and you know what. It is a safe road to drive AS LONG AS YOU OBSERVE THE SPEED LIMIT AND HIGHWAY CODE. I have said for years that the majority of accidents are caused by tourists and people belting along a road at 80mph plus which was designed to drive on at 60mph. Vehicles now have sufficient safety features to allow them to 'cruise' the A9 in relative safety within the speed limit and not end up mangled on the roadside!! Its a country road through some of the most spectacular scenery in Great Britain. The petrol heads need to remove some of the lead in their right shoes and enjoy it!

The A9 has a high accident rate in part due to the high percentage of foreign drivers using it, who are unfamiliar with overtaking when driving on the left. I'd say BMW drivers tend to be more at fault than Audi drivers with regard to aggressive behaviour on the roads, but that difference is nowhere as extreme as it used to be.

Traffic volumes across the UK have fallen in recent months due to bad weather and hgiher fuel prices, as well as the economy in general. I suspect this will cahnge as more people return to using cars. The same has been seen right across Europe and North America to a greater or lesser degree.

Traffic volumes tend to be high on the A9 in summer due to the high percentage of holidaymakers using the route.

The A 9 does not need to be dual carriageway for the amount of traffic using it, and by observation since the start of 2011 the amount of motor traffic on the road has noticeably reduced.

I've been driving around 800 miles every other weekend - a very sad domestic issue - and roads like the A1 which used to be relatively active on a sunny Sunday afternoon are almost deserted. Sunday traffic queues on the Edinburgh by-pass are shorter or almost non-existent.

Now what would be an improvement, is the delivery of better driver 'behaviour' especially in the speed/observation area.

At Crubenmore, there will need to be a number of culverts to feed water from the hills in to the Truim. THese have to be substantially 'oversized' to deal with meltwater surges and the rocks brought down with this. Elsewhere, probably when roads were designed and built by Highland Council (local) engineers, the huge culverts double as road crossing points to all who want a less hazardous road crossing. True in full spate the paths here will be underwater but when this happens very few people will be wanting to cross the road and very few people will be drivind - several crossings like this on A95