Impatient motorists have been slammed for driving the wrong way down one of Tayside’s busiest roads after a lorry caught fire.
The vehicles were filmed travelling westbound on the eastbound carriageway of the A90 shortly after 9am on Saturday.
The road, which is the major artery between Dundee and Perth, had been closed near Inchture due to the blaze.
Emergency services were called to the scene at about 7.50am.
Several motorists were witnessed travelling back the way they had come in a bid to escape the chaos, in a move branded “crazy” by road safety experts.
A spokesman for the Institute of Advanced Motorists said: “The wrong way driving recorded here was crazily dangerous.
“The A90 is a fast road at the best of times and to attempt this in bad weather in the face of on coming traffic is selfish beyond belief.
“The emergency services had enough to do when dealing with this incident so they do need drivers to act sensibly.”
Local councillor Alasdair Bailey said although police had closed the road behind the drivers, the motorists had no way of knowing this.
He said: “It’s very concerning to see these drivers driving south on the northbound carriageway of the A90.
“It’s really dangerous to second-guess the situation after an accident, who knows what more emergency services may need to hurry to the scene?”
Fellow Carse councillor Angus Forbes added: “I was appalled to see this footage, especially the car driving the wrong way down the A90.
“I understand that people get frustrated having to wait but actions like this will simply lead to more accidents. In my view, its downright dangerous.”
The fire was visible from several miles away and the trailer was left a smouldering ruin by the side of the A90.
Plumber Ciaran Davidson was travelling to work in Perth with colleague Brian Donald when they spotted flames rising from the road ahead of them.
Mr Donaldson filmed the dramatic fire and said they could feel the intense heat as they passed.
He said: “It was crazy – I’ve never seen a vehicle on fire like that.
“We were in the works van driving along and we saw the trailer on fire. The main part of the lorry had been disconnected.
“We had the window down and you could feel the heat coming from it even from the other side of the road – it was hot enough to keep you warm on a cold night.”
Following the fire BEAR Scotland assessed the area to see if it needed resurfaced.
A spokeswoman for BEAR Scotland said: “Our teams assisted Police Scotland and fire services who were responding to a vehicle fire on the northbound A90 near Inchture.
“The road was closed for safety while fire services addressed the fire and our teams provided traffic management to help direct traffic via a local diversion.
“One lane was opened to traffic at around 9.40am, with one lane remaining closed for safety to allow for the recovery of the vehicle and clear-up of the fire, as well as to allow teams to inspect the road surface for any damage.”
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said there had been no incidents reported to them and advice on what to do following a crash could be found on their website.
