A police crackdown has slashed the number of crashes at a notorious north-east blackspot, but campaigners believe more still needs to be done to make it safe.
The Toll of Birness junction, which links the A90 Aberdeen to Peterhead road with the A952 to Fraserburgh, has historically been blighted by accidents.
In 2015, police recorded 49 collisions there – meaning there was almost an average of one crash every week.
A year earlier, the police had launched the Operation Cedar (Challenge, Educate, Detect and Reduce) initiative to tackle dangerous driving in Aberdeenshire – and the force believes its impact has been felt as drivers changed their behaviour in subsequent years.
By 2017, the number of crashes dropped to 30 and only eight were recorded in 2018.
There were 15 collisions in 2019.
The figures, obtained by the Press and Journal through Freedom of Information legislation, have been hailed by police as an illustration of how effective the campaign has been.
Inspector Neil Morrison said:”This has led to numerous local operations and initiatives to detect and deter road traffic offences and poor driver behaviour.
“We are also committed to enforcement and carry out patrols across the region every day of the year using marked and unmarked vehicles.”
But Ellon councillor, Gillian Owen, has been fighting for the stretch of the A90 between the town and Peterhead to be transformed into a dual carriageway for years – and thinks more can be done to make the junction safer.
Mrs Owen said: “Cedar has had an impact, as well as the flashing lights installed in 2018, but in reality the junction needs changed.
“People take a risk at that junction, they pull put and the speed of other drivers hasn’t dropped.
“It’s quite frustrating, this is something I’ve been campaigning about for a number of years and it seems to have fallen by the wayside.”
A spokesman for Transport Scotland said that further safety measures at the junction were being considered.
Police have stressed that not all incidents that took place at the spot have been recorded as collisions.
Where motorists involved have exchanged insurance details, and nobody has been injured, there is no legal requirement to report the matter to the police.
