Artic crash victim named

A MAN who died in a head-on collision on one of Scotland’s most dangerous roads has been named by police.

Christopher Peacock, 49, was driving his £30,000 Mercedes E220 when it hit the lorry neat East Whitburn, West Lothian.

The father of three suffered serous injuries in the crash on the A801.

Today his family paid tribute. In a short statement issued through Lothian and Borders Police, they said: “He was a father of three who will be sadly missed by all who knew him.”

Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding this incident and any motorists who were on the road at the time and can assist officers with their enquiries are asked to contact police immediately.

Politician and former area MSP Cathy Peattie has previously condemned the road as “dangerous”

In 2008 she said: “It is the shortest arterial route south to the M8. If it wasn’t already so congested and dangerous, more transport would use it, reducing travel distances and times.”

The road has seen numerous crashes, including in July 2010 when a man narrowly escaped being crushed by a 32-tonne lorry.

Tom Stewart’s Honda Civic was almost flattened after the lorry driver lost control on a roundabout.

The A801 is known as the “missing link” between the M8 and M9.

Last year politicians lobbied Scottish ministers to get a £22 million upgrade of the road off the ground.

Sections of the road are unsuitable for larger vehicles, but it is seen as a strategic transport link between the motorways at both regional and national levels.

Both West Lothian and Falkirk councils want the road upgraded with a fly-over bridge to improve business links.

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