A woman who was almost killed when a lorry was blown on to her car has called for guidance to be issued to drivers of high-sided vehicles during storms.
Caroline Munro believed she and her husband Martin Bayliss were going to die when a ferocious gust slammed the HGV into their white Dacia Duster.
She said the toppling truck slashed through its roof “like a knife through cheese”.
The 41-year-old escaped with a broken collarbone and ribs, while her 43-year-old husband suffered a gash to his head.
The firm operating the lorry said the terrifying incident on one of the north-east’s busiest roads had been caused by a “freak” blast.
But as she recovered at her home near Keith, Ms Munro said the ordeal had convinced her that transport bosses should make sure guidance is issued to drivers of heavy vehicles before they take to the road.
She said: “What happened has shown me that, in high winds, high-sided vehicles can fall over and kill people.
“The firm running the lorry knew it was more likely to topple over because it was empty at the time – so why was it on the road?
“I understand companies have money to make and contracts to honour, but I don’t think any of those things would have been worth us losing our lives over.
“But this isn’t about one company – more guidance needs to be given for when all lorries should be allowed on the road.”
Operator Caledonian Logistics said the strength of the winds at the height of Storm Gertrude had “shocked” drivers.
Managing director, Derek Mitchell said: “There is no hard and fast rule about when lorries can and cannot travel.
“That morning, the region was only under an ‘amber’ wind warning, but had that been ‘red’ then some more consideration would have been given to whether the journey was completely necessary.
“It was a shock that something like that could happen, it was windy but it seems like it was a freak gust that blew the lorry over.”
The Road Haulage Association – the trade group which represents the freight industry – refused to comment on whether more stringent rules could be put in place but said it would investigate the circumstances of the crash.
An RHA spokesman said: “Incidents of lorry blow-overs are, fortunately, quite rare when you consider there are 400,000 HGVs servicing the UK economy.
“The more information we can gather from the roads authorities when an incident does take place, the better we will be able to analyse what has gone wrong when an incident does occur.”
Transport Scotland said it would continue to alert drivers when weather conditions could make driving inadvisable.
A spokeswoman added: “We work closely with police and other agencies to ensure all road users and businesses have as much information about circumstances that may affect driving conditions.
“We strongly urge all road users to pay attention to any such advice and drive to the conditions at all times.”
The incident happened on the A96 Inverness-Aberdeen road, south of Huntly close to Battlehill.
Police, fire and ambulance crews were all called to the scene.
Ms Munro, who works for the Care Inspectorate, said she would take weeks to physically recover from the accident.
Mr Bayliss teaches religious, moral and philosophical studies at Kemnay Academy in Aberdeenshire and was on his way to work when the accident happened.
“On February 4, we reported incorrectly that Caroline Munro called for high-sided vehicles to be “banned” from the roads in storms, after she was involved in an accident with a lorry on the A96 Aberdeen-Inverness road, near Huntly. In fact, Ms Munro was calling for more guidance to be given over when all lorries should be allowed on the road. We apologise for the error.”