Accident fear over road glare
Landward councillor Willie Mackay has vowed to renew his efforts to secure major improvements to the road surface at the notorious sweeping tree-lined dip at Oldhall on the main road between Thurso and Wick.
He claims to have nearly had an accident due to the low sun reflecting off the surface of the A882 at Oldhall and blinding him last Monday.
Mr Mackay, who lives nearby, had just started out on his journey to visit a constituent in Watten. As he approached the corner from the Thurso direction, he barely caught the rear lights of cars braking in front of him as they encountered the “terrifically strong dazzling bright glare of the sun” coming off the shiny road surface.
He was just one of many motorists who encountered “a near blackout” with the low-lying sun on Monday morning, he said. “I immediately pulled up into a safe side road and went back to take a snap of the phenomenon. There is no doubt that this somewhat skid-pan shiny surface is causing problems on the 300-yard stretch.
“The low-lying early morning sun at this time of year and a shower of rain make for a dangerous combination on our roads that motorists travelling east don’t want to encounter. “
Mr Mackay was knocked back in April when he was told that accident statistics did not justify a high-friction, anti-skid surface costing £85,000.
“My efforts to have a 40mph speed limit at Oldhall failed when Northern Constabulary argued that such a compulsory speed limit would not be safely enforceable owing to statistical accident records,” he said. “However, I’m not giving up and on encountering this latest danger last Monday morning the battle goes on.”