crash at latheron

[wickscorrie]

hope everyone involved is okay, but after seeing the road conditions i wouldna like to be travelling south tonight
http://www.trafficscotland.org/lev/index.aspx

Start Date/Time 31 Jan 2010 19:48 Location A9 A99 Latheron - Achavanich Type Accident DescriptionThe A9 is currently blocked at Latheron, due to a road traffic incident.

(http://www.trafficscotland.org/currentincidents/details.aspx?id=49947&type=ci)

[chocolatechip]

I hope everyone involved is ok to. Was there an accident near Dunbeath last night? I saw blue lights flashing from my living room!! I hadn't heard anything about it. DRIVE SAFE!!

[caithnesslad]

Was just about to make this thread.. Seen two fire engines and two ambulances going up the cassaigmaire.. Followed buy a police 4x4.. Doesn't look too good!

[Rourkee]

Just arrived home from Inverness, road is terrible north of Golspie, drifting badly at Brora and Newport. Dunbeath bridge is like a bottle but the gritters are out and working hard. Came upon several accidents on the way up but luckily everyone was okay.
My advice, If you planning a trip South leave it until tomorrow.

[TanyaHorne]

Just home from Inverness this very minute.

Would not advise the journey to anyone even 2moro!!!!
Drifts are very bad, some parts at brora are down to single file. Cars were not making it up the new Helmsdale brae and i struggled myself.

Mad i know but will make me think twice about going in snow again.

[Boozeburglar]

I hope so Tanya.

I wish people would pay attention to advice about snow, it is a killer.

Glad you got home safely.

:)

[John Baikie]

Just home as well. Worst conditions I've driven in. There was cars strewn all over the ord, unable to get moving. I just made it over.
Minibus overturned at Latheron, everyone ok, but must have been shaken.
The drifting snow is causing havoc, and the road should have been closed I think.

[johndy]

Just home as well. Worst conditions I've driven in. There was cars strewn all over the ord, unable to get moving. I just made it over.


I am also just home from Inverness, roads around Brora were terrible, must also say its the worst conditions Ive seen for a very long time.

[Connor.]

Just back from Inverness myself. Brora onwards is very treacherous, alot of drifting from the fields make vision very hard, had to guess where the road was on some bits. Lorries i noticed were struggling a bit before the Welcome to Caithness sign. If anyone does go, be very very careful. Luckily gritters have been doing a good job on the braes as it seems pretty clear but either side of it is pretty bad.

[meu04223]

I came up from Aberdeen and found the roads really bad closer to home. A kind man gave my car (and others) a push at Berriedale, but I couldn't really stop to thank him properly, so A BIG THANK YOU to the man in the red coat, i think he drove a merc with a SK number plate. I hope never to drive in those conditions again!

[luskentyre]

I was going to be heading south yesterday (Saturday) but after passing an articulated lorry on it's side in a field I decided to turn back at Lybster. On the way back I saw a car has just gone off the road and was in another field.

Thanks for all these reports. I guess the message is, if you don't need to go then postpone your trip.

[rainbow]

Sat on Navidale hill behind a lorry that was stuck - for two hours - and no sign of a single snowplough or gritter in all that time. Police eventually turned up to push and pull people out of snow and to get them moving. Hill was atrochious and I cannot understand why this hill on a main trunk road was not cleared sooner. I was very disappointed with whoever it is that now treats the roads - appaling service. I could understand minor roads not being covered but this was a main arterial road. Once we got moving the road condition was dreadful - certainly not advisable and the police were still allowing cars etc though. There is a happy ending as we all got home safely and tired - 5 hours later after leaving Inverness.
I have never seen the road so bad!!

[Lindsay]

Well Done to the firemen, police and ambulance crew for getting there safely and checking everything was OK! Not a nice thought when your loved ones are out there!!

[roadbowler]

yea, according to the bbc it was a group of surfers leaving caithness in a minibus. Luckily, everyone is ok!

[Connor.]

yea, according to the bbc it was a group of surfers leaving caithness in a minibus. Luckily, everyone is ok!

I don't think it was, we passed a minibus full of the surfer types just outside lybster. This was after the ambulance, fire engine and police cars went past.

They were looking for scrabster, so they were a bit out.

[Boozeburglar]

Seems to me that some people have little understanding.

Just why is it so bad to be stuck for two hours?

How often does that happen to you?

Should you have been driving in those conditions in the first place?

Did no one heed the warnings abundantly available about the weather?

To ignore openly available advice is irresponsible, to then complain that someone was not there to get you out soon enough is moronic.

Then to talk as though this was some major route is mad.

It was a Sunday on a remote rural road.

Warning were given.

Why were so many people risking it?

[northener]

BB, some people believe that gritters are for their own personal service and expect them to magically appear at a moments notice whenever said person decides to venture out.

It seems to be lost on some people that just because a gritter puts in an appearance it does not suddenly make the road passable. On Saturday night at about 19:30 a gritter covered the A99 through Keiss....by 20:30 the road was in a bad way and remained so until the next day.

I heard loads of people asking 'where the gritter was', they were all suprised when I explained that it had actually been through. The driving conditions were atrocious, Warth Hill was especially slippy.

[cherokee]

Seems to me that some people have little understanding.

Just why is it so bad to be stuck for two hours?

How often does that happen to you?

Should you have been driving in those conditions in the first place?

Did no one heed the warnings abundantly available about the weather?

To ignore openly available advice is irresponsible, to then complain that someone was not there to get you out soon enough is moronic.

Then to talk as though this was some major route is mad.

It was a Sunday on a remote rural road.

Warning were given.

Why were so many people risking it?



Then to talk as though this was some major route is mad.

It was a Sunday on a remote rural road. "Quote"

This is one of the singular most ignorant statements I have ever read; especially from someone referring to the counties of Caithness and Sutherland.

This is most certainly not a rural road, however, it most certainly a major route. It is one of our main transport links, supplying the vast majority of our superstores and general stores not to mention a vital link to another major hospital !

How anyone can call the A9 anything less than a major and vital route for the North of Scotland, is beyond me !!![evil]

P/S - I think that anyone on that road last night/today, even considering the general weather conditions, would probably have only done so through necessity rather than just having a wee jaunt through the snow for a joke - is that even considered in your rant ???

[roadbowler]

aye, connor could be bbc wrong. (no surprises, there) then again, this time of years prolly lots of surfers about. Ie. More than one minibus full.

[Boozeburglar]

Then to talk as though this was some major route is mad.

It was a Sunday on a remote rural road. "Quote"

This is one of the singular most ignorant statements I have ever read; especially from someone referring to the counties of Caithness and Sutherland.
Thanks. I do try. Which one is the singular most ignorant? It was Sunday; I presume you are not questioning that.


This is most certainly not a rural road, however, it most certainly a major route.

Is it an urban road? Well, is it? I have spent my life going up and down the A9 and for some reason I cannot see more than beautiful countryside and seascape surrounding most of it. North of Inverness it is the very definition of a remote rural road, and that even applies to vast sections of it south of Inverness as well!

The A9 is the primary route North from Inverness. The section of road in question in my posting is seventy odd miles from Inverness, and though not far from a village, is certainly remote.

The population of Caithness is relatively small, and Caithness is a great distance away from any major population mass. It is a remote area by any description.

For that reason alone, and considering the low volume of traffic on the A9 north of Inverness, (and how little there is travelling all the way to Caithness), it really is not reasonable to call it a major route, in the same way we might describe the M8, for example. It is the primary route, but nothing more.

To talk as though it should be a priority to clear every thirty minutes to save people who ventured out against advice waiting to progress suggested it should be considered as important as a truly major route.


It is one of our main transport links, supplying the vast majority of our superstores and general stores not to mention a vital link to another major hospital !

Wick General is not a major hospital, not even in Scotland. Superstores in Caithness? Just the one as far as I know. It is one of YOUR main transport links, not Scotland’s.


How anyone can call the A9 anything less than a major and vital route for the North of Scotland, is beyond me !!!file:///C:/Users/STRU/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif

I agree it is vital, and I am a huge supporter of maintaining Wick General, but none of that gives the part of the A9 from Helmsdale north precedence over other routes carrying more traffic. (I did not restrict myself to the north of Scotland.)


P/S - I think that anyone on that road last night/today, even considering the general weather conditions, would probably have only done so through necessity rather than just having a wee jaunt through the snow for a joke - is that even considered in your rant ???

I hope you are right, but experience tells me you are wrong. My remarks are aimed at those making journeys against advice, carrying children or the infirm, and especially at those complaining because they had a long journey in circumstances that they should have accepted with grace considering the location and conditions. The folks out there gritting the road deserve all the praise we can heap on them, not baseless criticism.

[Loraine]

yea, according to the bbc it was a group of surfers leaving caithness in a minibus. Luckily, everyone is ok!

It was definitely an overturned minibus we passed and it had surfing logos on it and also seemed to be Glasgow University signs too - the group standing next to it were all students by the look of it. It had only just happened as we drove past them, they were using their mobiles to phone for help. I felt very sorry for them. It must have been very scary... :eek:

[Kevin Milkins]

It was definitely an overturned minibus we passed and it had surfing logos on it and also seemed to be Glasgow University signs too - the group standing next to it were all students by the look of it. It had only just happened as we drove past them, they were using their mobiles to phone for help. I felt very sorry for them. It must have been very scary... :eek:


I would have thought being upside in a minibus pretty tame stuff for some of them surf dudes.

[roadbowler]

loraine, yea, i know i've read before glasgow uni has a surf club. So, i guess bbc was right! ;) kevin, i suppose tame is probably right! I'm glad it has only just turned out to be another gnarly story of their surf trip to tell their mates too!:D

[Boozeburglar]

Whoever decided to drive in those conditions with a bus load should be looked into.

[Moonysmum]

I am the mum of one of the students involved in the Glasgow Uni surf club minibus accident on Sunday night. There were two minibuses trying to travel south - one took the wrong road by mistake.

I would like to thank anyone who stopped to assist at the scene and especially the emergency services who attended. The Police were wonderful and helped those who were without transport get to Inverness where all 21 stayed with me overnight before completing the journey to Glasgow the next day.

It was every parents nightmare come true but fortunately nobody was seriously hurt.

[Kevin Milkins]

I am the mum of one of the students involved in the Glasgow Uni surf club minibus accident on Sunday night. There were two minibuses trying to travel south - one took the wrong road by mistake.

I would like to thank anyone who stopped to assist at the scene and especially the emergency services who attended. The Police were wonderful and helped those who were without transport get to Inverness where all 21 stayed with me overnight before completing the journey to Glasgow the next day.

It was every parents nightmare come true but fortunately nobody was seriously hurt.

Welcome to the org Moonys mum.

There was never a more true saying than " all's well that ends well " and I am glad to hear that your son and his mates had a happy ending to what could have been a disastrous day.

I bet making breakfast for that lot was good fun.:eek::lol:

[Moonysmum]

Welcome to the org Moonys mum.

There was never a more true saying than " all's well that ends well " and I am glad to hear that your son and his mates had a happy ending to what could have been a disastrous day.

I bet making breakfast for that lot was good fun.:eek::lol:


Thank you Kevin - actually it was my daughter - she was driving the bus.

We cleared our freezer of bread making toast, toast and more toast!![lol]

[Kevin Milkins]

Thank you Kevin - actually it was my daughter - she was driving the bus.

We cleared our freezer of bread making toast, toast and more toast!![lol]

LOL, That will teach me to be presumptuous.:lol:
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[para] Bliddy women drivers. lol.