A key route running through Dumbarton towards Loch Lomond and the Highlands has been branded one of Britain’s killer roads in a BBC documentary.
Last week, the A82 featured in the Panorama investigation into the rising number of injuries and incidents on roads across the UK.
Official figures showed that there have been 30 fatal accidents on the route between 2016 and 2020, along with 97 classed as ‘moderately serious’, ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’.
Last year, a pedestrian and a motorist died within days of each other after incidents on the route near Luss.
A motorcyclist was also killed on the road near Renton last summer, whilst in 2020, the mum of 21-year-old Liam Scott, who was tragically killed near Duck Bay, launched a petition calling for safety measures on the road.
Kelly Scott told of her devastation after the incident, saying: “On taking a trip up to where the accident happened, we noticed just how bad this road is.”
In 2019, much-loved Bellsmyre gran Theresa John also lost her life in an incident on a section of the road near Dumbarton.
In the documentary, which aired on BBC One last Monday, presenter Richard Bilton says: “I’m heading to what people here call the forgotten road.
“The scenery is amazing, it’s a very beautiful location.
“But this route has a dreadful statistic. It’s Scotland’s most dangerous road.
“The A82 has cost dozens of lives and captures the dangers of driving in Britain.
“There’s bad driving and there’s also the state of the road itself.
“This is one of the main roads going north and it’s really dangerous.”
Richard is joined by John Barrell of the Road Safety Foundation, who calls for more speed cameras on the route.
He added: “The bottom line is money. You can’t put cameras everywhere you want them at the one time.
“You have to prioritise. And it appears, at the moment, that the A82 is not the priority for these cameras.”
Whilst Bilton said that he felt uncomfortable driving on sections of the busy route.
He continued: “Apart from a couple of short stretches, Scotland’s most dangerous road has no fixed cameras at all.
“Like thousands of old routes, it’s an ancient road in a modern world.
“I’m not really enjoying my drive on the A82. There are a lot of sections that are narrow and intimidating.
“Speed feels like a massive factor.
“It is quite frightening.
“Other motorists just have to do a little thing wrong and we both get killed.”
Commenting on the programme, Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie said: “It is absolutely dreadful that so many people have died on the A82 over recent years, each one of those numbers representing someone whose loss will be very sorely felt by their families.
“And, of course, there are also numerous incidents where people survive but are profoundly affected by the events, either due to serious injury or mental trauma.
“The Scottish Government has to take a serious and urgent look at ways of improving this stretch of road, up the lochside, for both local people who use it regularly and visitors who want to enjoy Loch Lomond.
“They must take action as soon as possible to stop others being killed or seriously harmed.”
Responding to the programme, Deputy Chief Constable Malcolm Graham of Police Scotland said that the feature largely focused on England and Wales, with centralised police services in Scotland making it difficult to compare.
He said there had been a sustained decrease in the number of road casulties across Scotland – despite road use soaring by 30 percent over the last 25 years.
He told the Lennox Herald: “We’re working with partners around long term targets, specifically in terms of reducing the number of people killed or seriously injured as per the Scottish Government Framework.
“Road policing is a priority in Scotland, it is a dedicated department with dedicated resources.”
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “The A82 runs over 160 miles through a varied and frequently challenging landscape and can be subject to difficult driving conditions.
“From 2007 to September 2021, £159million has been invested in the management and maintenance of the A82 trunk road in the North West.”
He added that work is ongoing to develop improvements between Tarbert and Inverarnan, with more work to be identified as part of a review.
