Watch as 'irresponsibly-parked' coach almost causes head-on crash

Dashcam footage shows a Caledonian Travel coach stopped half in a layby on a blind corner on the road, impeding traffic behind it and causing an obstruction.

As a motorist attempts to overtake the coach, a lorry comes round the corner towards the vehicle. Thankfully, the lorry slows down in time to avoid a head-on collision with the car and the motorist is able to reverse back behind the coach. 

Lewis local Julie Child, who recorded the footage, said the Caledonian Travel driver put his passengers desire to take a photo of Luskentyre from Seilebost layby ahead the safety of other road users.

Ms Child told The Herald: "I slowed down, beeped my horn, the driver ignored me and looked straight ahead. I did consider stopping and asking the driver to move or at the very least wave traffic through past the obstruction but as a woman in a van I did not feel confident to do so.

"The first time I attempted to pass the coach a Mackay's lorry came the other way at a very sensible speed which I am very grateful for. I reversed back in, again beeping the horn, again ignored. The second time I passed him the driver just kept his head forward like I wasn't even there. His passengers were all leaning over the fence and stood on rocks to capture "the view" if Luskintyre beach that they just had to do.

"I now remember why I don't usually travel through the islands during summer silly season."

The footage was shared on the Isle of Harris Facebook page by Ms Child, who runs Mollans Takeaway, Scotland's smallest chipshop, on Lewis. 

One person commented: "If it had been a motorbike instead of a lorry, it could have been fatal", while another called the actions of the coach driver "indefensible". 

READ MORE: Watch moment driver on wrong side of road narrowly avoids A82 head-on crash

After Ms Childs reported the driver to Caledonian Travel, the holiday firm responded with an apology and confirmed that it was investigating the matter.

The firm responded: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are terribly sorry to see what happened here. We take safety very seriously at Caledonian Travel and are committed to ensuring the well-being of all road users and our passengers.

"We will investigate the matter thoroughly and take appropriate action based on our findings. Your feedback is important to us, and we appreciate you highlighting this matter. Regards, Caledonian Travel."

The incident involving the coach comes after 'sickening' video footage captured the moment a suspected tourist was caught driving on the wrong side of the road on the busy A82 route in the Highlands. 

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

Figures obtained by The Herald under freedom of information (FOI) laws in November last year showed that 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.

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.