Investigators probing a road accident which claimed the life of a west Fife man have refused to rule out a pothole or loose drain cover as a potential cause, The Courier understands.
Alex Muirhead (55) was driving a Ford Focus when it was in collision with a Ford Transit van on the B9157 Orrock Quarry road near Cuddyknowes Cottages at around 7am on Friday April 27.
Mr Muirhead was cut from the wreckage by firefighters at the scene and was airlifted to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Sadly, he passed away a few hours later.
While tributes to Mr Muirhead have continued to pour in from his friends and family, road traffic crash investigators are examining a number of theories as to what caused the incident and are looking closely at one theory in particular.
Witnesses are understood to have told police that one of the vehicles involved in the accident may have struck a pothole or other obstruction in the road which caused it to veer off course.
Following suggestions that a pothole may have been a factor, Bob McLellan, head of transportation and environmental services with Fife Council, refused to speculate on the incident.
He said: ”The fatal accident on the B9157 is currently the focus of a police investigation and so we are unable to comment at this stage.”
A police spokesman echoed those sentiments, stating: ”Investigations are still ongoing and it’s too early to say what caused the accident.”
Whether or not the state of the road was to blame, the issue is expected to be one the new Fife Council administration will have to tackle in the coming years. The latest available figures suggested the bill for Fife’s road repairs backlog had risen to £82.5m last year, up from the £68.9m recorded as part of the Scottish Road Maintenance Condition Survey (SRMCS). That sum only applied to roadways and did not cover paths, bridges or streetlights.
A 10-year programme of investment worth £45m was approved by Fife councillors in 2009, while extra money was also pumped into road maintenance across the region in February’s budget.