A NORTH motorist had a narrow escape after his small car collided head-on with a heavy lorry yesterday and burst into flames.
The crash happened at what one local described as an accident blackspot – and he called for action to improve safety.
The 28-year-old driver was heading south on the A939 Nairn-Grantown road when the collision happened at the old railway bridge near Castle Grant, two miles north of Grantown, at 8.30am.
He managed to flee his Volkswagen Polo just as it became a raging inferno.
Firefighters said the car was “engulfed in flames” when they arrived and the driver had been lucky to have got out uninjured.
The motorist was taken to Grantown Health Centre as a precaution.
The 44-year-old lorry driver, who was transporting cement for haulage firm A&R Burnett, of Doune, near Stirling, was also uninjured.
The accident, which happened in foggy conditions, prompted a nearby resident to call for traffic lights on the stretch to prevent further accidents and possible tragedies.
The road narrows at a tight S-bend and lorries are forced to move into the middle of the road to ensure they can squeeze under the bridge, which now carries a walking track.
Hamish Campbell, of East Lodge, immediately beside the former railway crossing, said there had been “umpteen” accidents at the spot over the years.
He added that a lorry had been forced to take evasive action at the weekend to avoid colliding with an oncoming car.
Mr Campbell said he had contacted Fergus Ewing MSP about the issue and the politician had contacted Highland Council – but no lights had been installed.
The resident said: “There were things done to clear the sight lines and ‘slow’ signs installed but it doesn’t make a difference.
“There are a lot of articulated lorries using the road and some come through at speed.
“Would it take a fatal accident to get something done?”
Firefighters used foam to extinguish the flames and the substance could be seen covering the vehicles and the surrounding road after the incident.
The car was completely destroyed, while the lorry suffered only minor damage to the front of the cab.
Grantown fire station watch manager Neil Mutch said the fire did not spread to the lorry.
Two crews from the town attended the incident and used two water jets and one foam jet to extinguish the fire. Mr Mutch added: “The car driver was lucky to get out unhurt.
“The car was completely ablaze and engulfed in flames when we arrived. We had to use foam because of the petrol.”
The road was closed for more than an hour to allow council workers to clear the white foam from the surface.
Conditions in the area were also extremely foggy yesterday morning, with poor visibility throughout the Grantown area.
It is a busy route for articulated lorries and queues formed in both directions from the accident scene yesterday morning.
A police spokeswoman said a report on the accident would be sent to the procurator fiscal.
A spokesman for A&R Burnett confirmed the firm’s driver was unhurt.
A Highland Council spokesman said they would consider any safety recommendations arising from the police investigation into the crash.