POLICE in the Highlands are working with the US embassy to target safety messages at American tourists after several serious accidents.

The BBC reported that north divisional commander Chief Superintendent Rob Shepherd, the top police officer in the Highlands, said the summer had seen fatal crashes involving US tourists.

Shepherd said that, as a result, American visitors had been identified as a key group to target with road safety messaging.

The popular North Coast 500 (NC500) route as well as the A82 (which runs up the west of Loch Lomond and through Glen Coe and Fort William) and the A9 (which runs along the Cairngorms before passing through Inverness and along the east coast) were identified as troublesome routes.

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Shepherd told the BBC: "We have had three or four fatal or serious accidents this summer involving tourists who have come from North America, mostly the United States.

"The reasons are varied – tiredness or ill-health or similar things.

"My road policing colleagues are in contact with the American embassy to see what we can do, working with them to get the information to people coming to Scotland."

Shepherd further said that campervan rental firms had been asked to make customers aware of the risks of driving larger, slower vehicles than they may ordinarily be used to.

There are also issues with frustration caused by the slower vehicles on single-track roads, which Shepherd said firms had been asked to make clear.

In the US and Canada, people drive on the right-hand side of the road. 

Sharon Munro, who founded the Keep Left campaign from the Isle of Skye, told the BBC that signs should be put up across the Highlands reminding people that people drive on the left in the UK.

"By having signs on roads, it's a prompt and constant reminder of where they should be," she said.