A9, is separated from fatal accidents on the longest road in Scotland

A dream journey to Scotland ended in the tragedy for Chris Strong’s family.

His wife Katie traveled from the US to Highlands with his brother and his mother to visit places from his favorite TV show, Outlander.

But they never came home. In August 2022, all three were killed in an accident on the infamous A9.

His death was another figure in the severe history of Scotland’s longest trunk road.

In the last 10 years, a total of 48 people have lost their lives on a stretch of 113-miles between Invertus and Perth.

The road regularly turns from single to dual vehicle. Drivers can often be seen driving at excessive speed to get ahead of the lines of slow -moving vehicles, and cars at some junctions have to turn right in the traffic coming in another way.

The work of doubling the remaining single -cavity classes was originally due to the end of 2025 – but the time limit slipped by a decade by 2035.

Chris Strong, who lives in Chicago with three daughters of the couple, has told BBC Alba’s EòRPA program From the painful permanent effects of deaths.

He said that his wife Katey was “Gum which kept all the great elements of our families together”.

“She was beautiful, and she was the most difficult working person I had ever met,” he said.

“She was still never sitting and she was very ambitious and always learning and always in school. She was always taking care of people.”

A photographer, Chris, says he is alive the memories of Katie and his family.

“We try to talk a lot about him. I think he is still an appearance in our house.”

Katie was 46 when she visited Scotland with her 45-year-old brother, Cered Bustian and her mother, Mary-Lo Mach.

They were all fans of Outlander, whom he saw together while taking care of his late father David, while he was suffering from dementia.

During his visit, he visited the Cowloden Battalfield near Inverters, one of the places in the show.

When they were on a single carriageway section of A9 south of Aviemore, they were on their car Was involved in a clash with a lorry,

Mary-Lu and Jeed died on the spot. KT, who driving the car, died in the hospital four days later.

Laurie driver was not hurt.

Chris said: “I don’t know why this happened.

“She was going to make the turn of the right hand of A9, and she turned right in front of a lorry.”

After finding out about the accident, Chris found the next aircraft in Scotland.

Katie was receiving treatment at a hospital in Dundi.

Chris said: “I was able to get there on time to see her. She was on a ventilator.

“I got to spend 24 hours with him.

“Then he tested and determined that she was not going to come back.”

Others have experienced a tragedy on A9 First-hand.

Ronnie Wear, who lives only a few meters from the road in Dowli, Partharshire, was involved in an accident in April 2017.

He was driving home from Pitlochri when a car came towards him in the wrong part of the road. They hit the head.

The driver of the second vehicle faced cerebral hemorrhage and died on the wheel before the accident.

Ronnie, who faced foot injuries, said he felt the effects of the accident every day.

“Trauma that causes an accident, is frightening. Sometimes it is difficult to speak about it,” he said.

Laurie driver Ellen McKenzie is a regular user of the road – and says she sets on A9 every time.

He said: “I pray for myself, for my lorry, but also with me – for all on A9, but especially for lorry.”

Ellen believed that there were a lot of factors behind the accidents on A9.

He said that some drivers did not understand road signals, while others tried to overtake his lorry at dangerous places.

“If the road was inserted in all ways from Invertus to Perth, it would be very different,” he said.

“Because then cars can overtake me if they wanted, and you will not be worried.”

According to Scottish government data, a total of 48 people were killed between 2014 and 2024, which was received through independence of information, according to Scottish government data.

Out of those who lost their lives, more than 80% of the people were on some parts of the road, which were not double carriageways.

In the same 10 years, 558 others were involved in the confrontation. More than 80% of them were on the segments that were not drowned.

The SNP made a commitment to double the A9 in 2007 to double the inversion to Perth, and in 2011 the Scottish government set a target date of 2025.

But in February 2023, the ministers admitted that by then the £ 3BN project was to be finished. “Unachieveable”,

Ten months later, the government said that there was a delay of 10 years in completing the work. By 2035,

At that time, Transport Secretary, Mary Macalon, said that a new rolling program of reforms was “obtainable” and would have “no late up” in work.

In the last decade, two sections of a total of 11 miles (18 km) road of 11 miles (18 km) road have been upgraded – but is still cast at a distance of 77 miles of the road.

Laura Hansler, a campaigner of the A9 Dual Action Group, who lives near the road, where it passes through the kernegorms, said he knew that the road building project was complicated.

But he said: “Every time there is a delay … you are going to motivate someone else to lose your loved one on this road.”

Transport Secretary Fiona Hislope said that she understands that there were disappointments around the misconduct of the road.

“A9, or actually a loss of life on other roads in Scotland, is a tragedy in itself,” he said

“Road safety is something that I take very seriously.”

He said that the government was not just waiting for dull, and had invested £ 5m in interim, short -term road safety issues on A9.

He said, “Road safety will help in itself and in itself and it is one of the reasons we have started on it,” she said.

Hyslop stated that the circumstances beyond the control of the Scottish government affected the project, including the Brexit – the return of the UK from the European Union – and the Kovid epidemic.

But he said: “We have a plan, we are meeting our milestones.”