'Sickening' video footage has captured the moment a suspected tourist was caught driving on the wrong side of the road on the busy A82 route in the Scottish Highlands.

Dashcam footage shows the motorist continuing south on a hazardous Glencoe stretch apparently unaware they should be on the left side.

Peter McIntyre who recorded the incident said he tried to alert the driver by flashing his lights and sounding the horn.

The motorist continues driving round bends in the road and only appears to realise their mistake when another car approaches and they are forced to quickly pull into the left side of the road.

The footage was shared hundreds of times on social media after being posted on Facebook on Tuesday with some commenting that the dangerous driver error was a common occurrence on the A82.

Mr McIntyre said: "This guy nearly put an end to his holiday on the A82 at Glencoe.

"Even with me flashing my lights and blowing my horn he kept on going."

 

One person wrote: "See this and other stupid maneuvers just about every day on that road.

"It makes you not want to drive."

Another woman from the United States said: "We have driven in Scotland three separate times with zero issues.

"It wasn't difficult, other than the 1st day and we were very careful. We also watched UK driving videos to help prepare and reviewed UK traffic signs.

"I think the issue is that so many people want to hop in the car right after flying overseas overnight and it is SO dangerous.

"You are sleep deprived, disorientated...not a time to hop behind the wheel but I see people in Scotland travel groups say they have planned to do so."

Others suggested hire car firms should ask foreign drivers to sit a test before they are allowed on UK roads.

Another posted: "Some big painted arrows on the road every couple of miles would surely help but the councils can't afford it seemingly.

"What does it cost when two families are wiped out."

It is not clear if the footage was shown to Police Scotland.

Figures obtained by The Herald under freedom of information (FOI) laws show the number of collisions where a contributory factor was recorded as being ‘Inexperience driving on the left’ by Police Scotland rose from 24 in 2022 to 28 in the nine months from January to September last year.

Other data, released by Transport Scotland, showed that the number of people killed on roads in the Highland Council area rose from 14 in 2021 to 32 in 2022 - the highest number of fatalities on roads in the local authority area since 2008. 

Most of the deaths, 20, were on trunk roads, which includes the A9 which runs from Perth to Inverness - frequently dubbed Scotland's most dangerous road.


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Highland SNP MSP Fergus Ewing warned last year that people in the Highlands are at a “massively greater risk of losing their life” due to the lack of dual carriageways.

In recent years, a number of fatal accidents and near-misses on the A9 involving drivers from overseas has provoked calls for more to be done to educate drivers.

Road Safety Scotland said a campaign had been re-launched with leaflets and wristbands distributed at airports, on ferries, at car rental venues, tourist spots and VisitScotland centres.

It comes after five Scotland fans were injured in a crash in Germany at the start of the Euro 2024 football tournament.

The group were involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle outside Weeze Airport near Düsseldorf. 

Police in German said the fans, who were in a hire car, were driving on the wrong side of the road.