THE ASSOCIATION of British Drivers has welcomed the new SNP Executive’s pledge to look into dualling the A9.

The notorious stretch of road from Perth to Inverness has claimed 80 lives since 1999, and in 2006 an average of almost one person per month died on it.

ABD Scottish co-ordinator Peter Spinney said, “For far too long the north of Scotland has been neglected by politicians in Westminster and Edinburgh alike, and forced to endure an inadequate and dangerous road link.

“We now look forward to seeing some firm dates put forward—and the sooner the better.”

He added, “Until this improvement is completed I appeal to drivers to take notice of the signs on the A9 and pull over if they are causing a queue.

“Drivers who have no intention of overtaking the vehicle in front should increase the gap in front of them to allow others to overtake the queue one vehicle at a time and thus prevent queues building.”

An Executive spokes- person said, “The deaths on the A9 are unacceptable.

“In the short term, the Scottish government will take forward research into the immediate priorities for investment to tackle the number of deaths.

“This will form part of a 10-year plan to transform Scottish road safety as outlined in the manifesto.

“In the longer term, we will look at plans to dual the A9…We will look into the options available to us.”