National memorial to those who have lost their lives

I think there should be a national memorial with art installations in a forest park to commemorate and recird the name of every person in Scotland who dies - rich or poor. I dont understand why we would have a road accident specific one.

Agree with Doreen Stewart. A9 is not unique and (without knowing who is at fault - why are road crash reports not publcised like reports into railway accidents are?) there must be some drivers killed on the A9 who were an accident waiting to happen on any road. That's before you start to think of vulnerable road users (pedestrians & cyclists) wiped out on the road network as a whole. Why make A9 victims a special case.

What about all the other roads? The best method for remembering the deaths is to dual the entire road and minimise future deaths.

I lost my father and cousin in separate collisions on the old A1 before it was dualled. I therefore understand the effect on those who have lost loved ones on the A9. If some would find a memorial welcome, I would support that. Like others,I think there would also be value in a memorial as a reminder to politicians and officials of the tragedies that are a direct result of their failure to act.

The best memorial to those whose lives have been lost already is to do what was promised ages ago and make the road safer for all users by dualling the entire road. It is mostly at junctions where fatalities occur; by dualling and using slip roads to enter and exit carriageways the risks are reduced drastically of someone being confused about the direction of travel.

For what purpose? Virtually every accident on this road has had some sort of human failure behind it. Whether the accident has resulted in death or serious injuries, the consequences are tragic for those involved. So would the memorial be to the memory of those who died, or a symbol of the human failure that caused the deaths. No one is going to drive more responsibly because of a memorial somewhere in Scotland. A better legacy would be to dual the road to make it safer for future travellers.

Even If or WHEN the A9 Perth to Inverness is FULLY DUALLED, unfortunately fatal accidents will still occur but hopefully it will average as less than yearly. What about Scotland's other killer roads that are less so than the A9 (A96, A82, A77, A75, etc), are there also going to be National Memorials for them? Anything built at the roadside would be a distraction. Much better when the route is finally upgraded to have a paragraph dedicated to the losses on the official road completion plaque?

The best memorial to those that have lost their lives is taking significant action to reduce speeding and removing the driver licences of those caught driving dangerously.

A better memorial would be to make the A9 road safer so that no more lives are lost unnecessarily, let alone those who lives are seriously affected by injuries or the trauma of being involved in accidents.

I think it should be done once the road is completed

Which community would want to host such a site?

Forget any pointless memorial. The only one that will mark the cost of lives to date is to get the A9 fully dualled as quickly as possible. Stop wasting more time and lives getting there.

I don't think a memorial is appropriate. It highlights how dangerous the road is and increases its notoriety. I don't know of a memorial for any other road. Save the money for dualling.

Use the money to actually upgrade the road to duel carriageway will honour the unfortunate people who have died on this road more that a memorial which could actually cause more of a distraction and lead to more accidents.

Making sure the road upgrade is finished as soon as possible would be much more of a recognition that something was done to make it safer.

I think this is something which should be decided by the relatives of those who lost their lives. But with respect, the priority should be making the road safer and something like this should be proposed and considered after that has been done. It would also need to be situated away from the road, or it could potentially be a distraction.

People die in accidents all the time, all over the country, leaving behind bereaved friends and family. If enough of those who have lost loved ones on the A9 want to fund a memorial of this kind, that's fine, but the priority should be to make the road safer in the first place.

Please just spend the money fixing the road! Then names will not need to be be added to a memorial.

I think the bereaved families thoughts on this are very important. Those who tragically lost their lives should never be forgotten though, so a memorial garden seems very fitting.

I also believe that should be up to the victim families to decide the best location for the memorial, however it should be somewhere that is highly visible to remind politicians that peoples lives outside the Central Belt are just as important and not some kind of second class citizen’s

Getting the A9 completed asap is the best memorial. what about the deaths on the A75 and the A76 do they not count? or all the other bad roads

Each victim is important and should be remembered uniquely by their loved ones, but a national memorial does seem disproportionate. The A9 has more than its fair share, but is still only a fraction of scotlands annual road deaths. There are many other causes of death with greater statistical significance that aren’t memorialised on a national scale, like cancer or suicide.

I would ask bereaved families whether they would visit a national memorial rather than a family one for their loved one. While it may add to the pressure on politicians i do think it is a bit of a distraction.

Fatal casualties on A9 accidents are not a special case. If there is to be a memorial then place it in The National Transport Museum in Glasgow. Let it show Fatal, Serious and Slight accident and casualty numbers from when records began until three months ago,

I think it’s totally wrong to have a memorial. Some of those who lost their lives would have been charged with dangerous driving had they survived, they may also have taken others with them. The surviving relatives may not want any sort of remembrance.

3. A National Memorial & road safety measures. The proposal for a National Memorial seems to be a good idea. Perhaps this could be sited on the peaceful section at Dalnaspidal, near the geographical centre of Scotland, although this is very much a matter for the relatives of those killed on the A9. Vehicular access to any memorial should be accessed via an approved junction.

The best memorial would be a completely dualled A9.

What will this achieve?

The memorial will be the total dulling and safety features in place.

While it is tragic that so many have lost their lives on this road, I agree with the points in the text above. Who would pay for it & why wouldn't all road accident victims get a memorial? I would rather see the money that a memorial would cost spent on actually dualling the road to make it safer, and on anger management/driving courses for those at fault for causing the fatal accidents.

More important to spend money on preventing further deaths

A sign at the start of the road a sign that simply says, "Here starts the A9 Dual Carrigeway standing in monument to the lives lost whilst the government dithered."

The best legacy would be to make the road safe. I think the people who have been tragically injured and killed will always be remembered, as will the incompetency that has caused these.

This question should be answered by those who have lost loved ones on the A9.

Not having lost a loved one on the road I wouldn’t want to

Completion of the dual carriageway is the memorial, a lasting legacy for a safer future, so no future families will experience the trauma experienced by those poor souls before. Stop prevaricating with new consultations, just deliver the original need, the only difference now is more poor souls have lost their lives and the road is busier and more dangerous.

The Scottish Government have a moral duty to Dual the A9 asap as a mark of respect to the people who have lost their lives no waiting until 2024 to even start on the Tomatin to Moy section.

I understand the proposal and it is right we commemorate those lost needlessly to cars. However, this could apply to all our roads so why just the A9?

There are too many memorials so their impact is lost. I am sure the bereaved have their own thoughts on this, it is not for public discussion.

I believe this question should be answered by those who have lost loved ones on the A9.

I agree with other people where the dialling of the road will save lives, and this is more important, and that's a lasting legacy.. And the people who've lost loved ones should decide whether this is a good idea or not.

I support the petitioner with any of her ideas because she is driving change on the A9 unlike any other politician has done regarding the A9 over the last 40 years

I agree with other people that deaths on th A9, although tragic and mostly avoidable, are not a special case unfortunately. I would rather see the road dualled first.

There are deaths on every road. What good would it do? Better to spend the money on road improvements.

I don't think a memorial is appropriate - tragic as each death is, people lose their lives on many other roads and in many other accidents just as tragically. The best way to honour the families affected would be to get the road dualled and the junctions improved so that no more families have to lose loved ones on the A9.

Not necessary. I can't see the point of any memorial