POLICE HIT out at drivers yesterday after three days of deaths on the roads—five people, including three teenagers, have died in crashes in Grampian, Tayside, Fife and Strathclyde.

Senior road traffic officers said drivers were continuing to ignore their warnings about the dangers of speeding and drink driving and were putting their lives and those of others at risk.

This is despite a high-profile Scotland-wide campaign launched by police forces over the weekend aimed at cutting the number of deaths on rural roads.

Teenagers David Craib (17) and Shaun Birnie (16) were killed when their Peugeot crashed into a tree and overturned near Turriff in Aberdeenshire on Saturday morning. It was reported that David Craib, the car’s driver, held only a provisional licence.

In another accident, Jason Ness (17), from Perth, died on Saturday night when the car in which he was a passenger crashed on the B920 Scotlandwell-to-Ballingry road in Kinross-shire. The car’s 21-year-old driver, who suffered minor injuries, allegedly held only a provisional driving licence.

A 42-year-old motorcyclist died yesterday morning when her bike collided with a Renault Clio on the A83 Inverary to Arrochar road.

And yesterday afternoon Tayside Police said a 50-year-old motorcyclist died after a crash involving a horsebox van on the A93 Perth-to-Blairgowrie road.

The 72-hour Rural Roads Campaign started on Friday.

Tayside Police said that since then it had reported 15 drivers for drink-driving offences, writes Alan Richardson.

Offenders included a man who was nearly five times over the limit and a bus driver on the M90 near Perth who was found to be three times the legal limit.

Chief Inspector Sandy Bowman, head of the force’s road policing, said, “I’m frustrated that despite numerous campaigns, our message on drinking and driving is not getting through to some motorists. There is a hard core of drivers who continue to drink and drive despite all the warnings and consequently we will continue to stop motorists and if necessary they will be breath-tested.

“It is totally wrong that there are people out there who believe it is acceptable to drive under the influence of alcohol. If we can modify behaviour by education, then great, but if necessary we will use the full force of the law to stop them.”

In respect of the number of young drivers arrested, Chief Inspector Bowman added, “At one time many people would have assumed that drink drivers was the domain of older drivers, but the fact is more than half of those caught this time were under 25 and all but one were male.

“Given the recent publicity regarding young male drivers, this has highlighted the importance of road policing in trying to prevent more tragedies on our roads.”

In Tayside, among the other startling incidents, a 44-year-old man in Friockheim was found to be almost five times over the drink-driving limit, a 63-year-old man in Crieff almost four times over the limit. A 59-year-old man in Perthshire was arrested for drink-driving offences for the third time this year.

Fife’s young drivers are still failing to get the safety message despite the launch of the major hard-hitting campaign aimed at stopping the senseless loss of young lives on the region’s roads, writes Claire Warrender.

Just 17 days after three young men died in a horrific crash on the outskirts of Auchtertool, Fife Police have revealed a catalogue of dangerous driving practices—including drivers caught doing speeds of up to 110mph.

Officers officially launched their road safety campaign last week with a shocking photograph showing the aftermath of the Auchtertool crash, which claimed the lives of Ally Caird (21), James Rankin (21) and David Rodger (20).

However, even the image of the mangled wreckage of the black Honda Civic which left the road and hit a tree on August 10 has failed to put the brakes on a hard core of young men and women.

The police have expressed both disbelief and disappointment at figures released yesterday which revealed the detection of a staggering 270 motoring offences between August 16 and 26.

Incredibly, two of the drivers detected were friends of the young men killed near Auchtertool and had attended their funerals.

Road policing inspector John McDonald said drivers who continue to break the law will be caught.

He added, “We hoped the tragedy of three young men losing their lives in such a pointless accident, combined with the shocking image of their crashed car in the media, might have made drivers think twice about their behaviour.

“Nobody who crashes thinks it will happen to them. They wrongly imagine they have the skills to drive well above the speed limit on difficult roads.

“The death toll in the past three years among young men should tell them they could easily become the next victim.”

Since 2004, Fife has seen five fatal road accidents where three or more people have died. All of them involved male drivers aged under 25. Of the 12 people killed in crashes in the region this year, nine had yet to see their 25th birthday.

The first week of the campaign saw high-profile operations by road policing officers and mobile units from the Fife Safety Camera Partnership. A focus has been on rural roads and areas used by ‘boy racers’, like Kirkcaldy Esplanade.

Of the 270 motoring offences detected, 153 were speeding offences, eight were people using mobile phones while driving and 33 involved driving without a seatbelt.

Eight uninsured vehicles were seized, another eight received prohibition notices for being unroadworthy while six people were given anti-social driving warnings.

Half the offences were committed by those under 25.

Notable violations included:

A man and a 20-year-old woman stopped for speeding, both of whom had been friends of the recent crash victims and had attended their funerals.

Two young men caught racing at up to 50mph on Kirkcaldy Esplanade from a set of traffic lights to the basin car park. One already had four points on his licence from previously speeding on the Esplanade. Another was reported for doing motorbike wheelies on the same stretch of road.

A young driver who had his licence for less than two years and already had five points caught doing 79mph in a 60mph limit.

A 24-year-old man caught doing 92mph on the Standing Stane Kirkcaldy-to-Leven road, where three young men died in a collision five months ago. His vehicle was seized as he had no MOT or insurance and was driving unaccompanied with just a provisional licence.

Three other men were stopped on the same road driving at speeds up to 110mph—one vehicle had a tyre with the steel cord exposed.

A Vauxhall seized in Inverkeithing after the 44-year-old driver was found to have no licence or insurance. He had been driving without documents for 25 years.

A 17-year-old who had passed his test a week before caught doing almost 60mph in a 30mph limit.

A young driver doing 54mph in a 30mph limit in a Subaru Impreza he had bought earlier that day.

Inspector McDonald stressed most drivers in Fife are responsible and law-abiding, but added, “There is, at the moment, a hard core of young men and some young women who think they are above the law.

“This type of behaviour has to stop. It’s unacceptable and dangerous.

“I would like to point out to these drivers that if you survive a crash where someone else has died, you could be convicted of causing death by dangerous driving with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

“The message is: we are after you, you will be caught and could lose your vehicle, licence and livelihood as a result. If it prevents you losing your life, or taking someone else’s, it will have been well worth it.”

The public have been urged to help the police by reporting bad driving by calling 0845 6005702.

Members of the public are reminded that if they know of a drink driver, and particularly those who are persistent offenders, they should report this to the police or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.