THE CAUSE of a crash that killed a Blairgowrie man may never be known.
Sheriff Fiona Tait issued her findings following a fatal accident inquiry into the death of Scott McIntosh.
She concluded that the 26-year-old tyrefitter’s vehicle crossed onto the opposite carriageway, into the path of an articulated lorry for “some unascertained reason”.
She said: “I cannot be satisfied that there was any reasonable precaution which might have been taken, or been in place, or which in the future would prevent a similar collision.”
Sheriff Tait extended her sympathy to Mr McIntosh’s family, saying his mother and sister had shown “considerable dignity” throughout the proceedings.
Mr McIntosh, a former captain of Balmoral United Amateur Football Club, died following a collision between his work van and a heavy goods vehicle on the A93 near the Spittal of Glenshee in July 2011.
A fatal accident inquiry held at Perth Sheriff Court last December heard how he had been on his way to a job when the accident took place.
He left the premises of McConechy’s Tyre and Exhaust Centre at around 12.15pm on July 6, intending to repair the tyre of a lorry stranded at the Glenshee Ski Centre car park.
Mr McIntosh was just minutes away from his destination when he struck a southbound heavy goods vehicle.
As a result of the smash, he sustained serious head injuries and after being cut from the Iveco van, he was airlifted to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
Sadly, Mr McIntosh was pronounced dead at 4.32pm and a post-mortem examination revealed he died from intracerebral and brain stem injuries, blunt force trauma and as a result of a vehicular collision.
The inquiry heard evidence from two motorists who witnessed the tragic accident, including the driver of the lorry the young man collided with.
Alistair McGilvray told how the crash happened, saying; “The van came round the corner on the other side of the road, about two feet over the white line.
“I swerved my vehicle on to the grass verge and I was practically stopped when the van hit the front of my lorry.
“When I saw he was over the white line, I took it that he was going too fast I just saw him for a couple of seconds.”
PC Michael Douglas, a road crash investigator for Tayside Police, carried out a six-hour examination of the scene and reported his findings to the inquiry.
He described a “gouge” in the southbound carriageway, suggesting the main point of impact was “maybe a third of the way” over the white line.
Mr Douglas concluded that there were three main reasons why Mr McIntosh may have veered onto the wrong side of the road.
The first was that he may have been distracted; the second was that heavy rain could have caused flooding on the road, which the tyrefitter would have tried to avoid; and finally, he suggested the young man may have “got a fright” after seeing the lorry coming towards him.
Sheriff Tait was invited by the legal representative of Stevenson Brothers (Avonbridge) Ltd who operated the lorry driven by Mr McGilvray to make a finding that the accident could have been prevented by Mr McIntosh.
She said, however, that she was “surprised” by this suggestion and said in her report: “It seems to me that the proposed finding is, in effect, simply the negative of the cause of the collision, that is the crossing by Mr McIntosh’s vehicle on to the opposing carriageway. The reason for that cannot be ascertained.”