Finance Secretary John Swinney narrowly escaped being involved in a multiple pile-up as heavy snow hit the notorious A9 on Tuesday.
The car in which the Perthshire North MSP was travelling was forced to swerve off the road to avoid the pile-up.
Mr Swinney helped other commuters at the scene after being caught up in the ”frightening” eight-vehicle smash that closed the main route through the Highlands.
The drama came on a day when severe weather again locked down Courier country.
Gusts of up to 80mph meant both the Tay bridges were closed, with the Forth Road Bridge also barred to high-sided vehicles. This caused commuter chaos as motorists struggled their way home.
At Perth, the Friarton fly-over was closed to high-sided vehicles, adding to commuter problems.
In Fife an electricity pylon crashed to the ground in Leuchars and trees were uprooted across the region.
Mr Swinney told The Courier he was returning from ministerial business in Inverness shortly before 1pm when his driver was forced to take evasive action.
”We came upon an incident that already involved several vehicles at that time,” he said. ”My driver managed to stop our vehicle safely and we got to a safe area of the road.
”The very difficult circumstances were exacerbated by the fact that another lorry following us along the road became involved in the smash.”
Mr Swinney, along with his driver and private secretary, were able to assist other commuters caught up in the incident.
”There were a lot of people helping to get people to safety,” he said. ”It was a quite an acute situation and it was very lucky there were not more injuries. It was a frightening experience.”
Northern Constabulary said five cars and three lorries were in the collision south of Dalwhinnie at around 12.50pm. An operation to recover the vehicles meant the road was closed for hours while recovery of one of the lorries was arranged.
Police said one person was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
With no diversion route available, driver patience was tested to the limit as the vehicles were recovered.
Police described the road and weather conditions in the area as ”poor”.
Heavy snow forced the closure of the A93 at Spittal of Glenshee while a fallen tree blocked the A912 beside Bridge of Earn during the day.See Wednesday’s Courier for more weather coverage