Safety and reliability demand that the A9 be dualled urgently

Considering safety first, the issue is the frequent changes between dual carriageway and single carriageway sections with the occasional three-lane overtaking section thrown in. On some occasions the dual carriageway sections are on different alignments. For drivers unfamiliar with the road and, in dark winter conditions, even for those who drive it regularly this is confusing and leads to accidents. These accidents are almost entirely on the sections of road which are not dualled.

The argument that there are no such things as dangerous roads because it is drivers that cause accidents is no more valid than the US gun lobby’s argument that guns don’t kill just the people who use them.

Published data shows that the accident rate on this section of trunk road is much higher than on trunk roads in Scotland generally. There is a dreadful impact on individuals and families from the resulting deaths and serious injuries. Does Mr Smith expect people in the Highlands to accept this as simply a consequence of where we live?

Secondly, reliability. As a result of accidents, the road is frequently closed for periods in excess of six hours and, often, there is no realistic diversion available. When leaving Inverness to drive to Edinburgh or Glasgow, individuals have a low level of confidence of arriving at the expected time. (The single-track railway between Inverness and Perth has low speed limits and takes longer than driving; it is also prone to frequent disruption.) As Inverness Chamber of Commerce has noted, unreliable transport connections reduce investors’ confidence. So there is an economic impact as well as a human one.

£3 billion is a huge sum of money but given that this investment was first promised in 2007 and will, at earliest, be delivered in 2035, it amounts to a contribution of around £20 per year from each person living in Scotland. Are the Highlands to be denied that?

George Rennie, Inverness.

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• I NOTICED that Mark Smith’s article on the dualling of the A9 downplayed the safety benefits inherent with modern road design.

There are many accidents at the old existing T-junctions, as reported on Facebook pages such as A9 Traffic Info.

Modern slip roads greatly reduce the risk of traffic trying to join a busy trunk road, especially when making a right turn.

A better compromise rather than full dualling might be to change all the dangerous T-junctions such as at Dunkeld and Aviemore into proper on and off slip roads with flyovers to remove the danger of turning right onto the A9.

Alasdair MacKenzie, Dunblane.

• I READ with considerable interest Mark Smith’s argument for cancelling the dualling of the A9. I fear had he picked the remnants of humanity from a multi-vehicle crash on the A9 or any other single carriageway major route his argument would be altogether different. The human cost of a fatal accident is almost immeasurable, the economic cost is very considerable, perhaps many millions.

What he and the others who have similar thoughts seem to forget is that motor vehicles are here for the foreseeable future. No doubt in a future that none of us will see, they (motor vehicles),will become a part of history, just like the horse and cart.

In the meantime be very careful what you wish for.

Dan Edgar, Rothesay.

Fanning the flames of hatred

IN response to Alan Fitzpatrick (Letters, October 21), I think everybody needs to be absolutely clear that Lucy Connolly's "race hate jail term" is by no means the product of a totalitarian state and she is most certainly not, in the language of any reasonable person, a "political prisoner".

Perhaps Mr Fitzpatrick did not have the opportunity to read the full details of Mrs Connolly's hate-driven message as some of the expletives were omitted from The Herald's report but he can surely not consider language which includes the lines "set fire to all the (expletive deleted) hotels full of the (expletive deleted)s for all I care” as being simply an opinion "with which those in authority disagree". As the head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division made clear, “using threatening, abusive or insulting language to rile up racism online is unacceptable and is breaking the law".

I don't for one second believe that anybody in the UK genuinely thinks that it is, or should be, an offence to have an opinion which is different to those in authority, but I think many will accept that fanning the flames of hatred (literally as well as metaphorically) and actively inciting violence against some of the most vulnerable and defenceless in our society is a criminal offence which deserves the appropriate response from the authorities as well as from the rest of us.

David Gray, Glasgow.

Lucy Connolly (Image: PA)

Tomorrow's history

NEWSPAPERS? Nothing beats the printed word (Letters, October 21).

I’ve lived my working life in, with and through them, bless them.

Today’s newspapers represent tomorrow’s history. What will the record of smartphones be?

Gordon Casely, Crathes.

Terminal decline

SCOTRAIL is not the only operator guilty of annoying announcements (Letters, October 16, 18 & 21). TransPennine Express announces near the end of journeys from Manchester, that "this train will terminate at Glasgow Central".

A bit late for evasive action by passengers; the days of pulling the communication cord are, alas, long gone.

David Miller, Milngavie.

When the penny drops

WITH regard to our Government's munificence of the 25p award to pensioners reaching 80 (Letters, October 21), the close friend should now look forward to a letter from HMRC advising her of a new tax code that will nullify almost any meaningful expenditure options.

Gordon Mackie, Buckie.