A man in his 80s was recovering at home yesterday after his car crashed with a lorry and rolled over several times close to his home.
Anthony Haig, 81, was knocked unconscious and left with a deep gash in his arm and severe bruising to his head.
His wife, Belinda, 76, and dog, Bramble, had to be helped out of the car by police and paramedics.
The smash happened as he was slowing to turn into the driveway leading to his home, just off the B851 which connects the A9 Inverness to Perth road and Loch Ness.
Last night the pensioner said he was thankful he wasn’t more seriously hurt in the ordeal – but anxious that the next casualty would not be so fortunate as the route becomes increasingly busy with lorries and commercial traffic.
Mr Haig said: “The driver came to help but started rocking the car to get it back on its wheels.
“I had blacked out and came to while I was hanging on to the side and my wife was screaming at him to stop.
“I realise that, in a way, I am lucky which is testament to the car but I am concerned with the lorries which are using the road every day – a neighbour recently counted that there are an average of 90 each day between Monday and Friday.”
The accident happened just after 1pm on Thursday and involved an unladen timber lorry.
It crashed into the driver’s side door of his silver Audi, sending it rolling off the road.
Mr Haig’s car then smashed through a white wooden fence, before coming to rest on its side.
Amazingly his wife and nine-year-old Labrador emerged from the car unscathed – Bramble even wagging her tail as they were helped from the vehicle by 999 crews.
Mr Haig said he had been worried about the number of heavy goods vehicle using the route for some time.
“They sometimes come in convoys of three, and pass in both directions, some empty and some fully loaded,” he said.
“This has been the case since we moved into this house a year ago.
“It will be going on forever, I think, as there are windfarm developments going on and quarries taking away the sides of mountains.”
Police are now investigating the incident.
Councillor Helen Carmichael, who represents Aird and Loch Ness, said safety was a concern in the area.
“This is a B-road, which is narrow in many places, and due care has to be taken by everyone using it,” she said.
“People who have lived there for years, and have become used to having very little traffic, are now having to cope with a high volume of heavy vehicles passing every day.”