Scotland road deaths: 'Losing my family in crash changed me forever'

Sisters Heidi and Peyton died in the crash in February 2020

A grandmother says she will never be able to come to terms with the loss of four members of her family in a crash.

Rhys Cousin, 25, his wife Gemma, 26, and their young daughters Peyton, three, and Heidi, one, were killed in a two-car crash in February 2020.

Rhys' mum Samantha, now a road safety campaigner, says she struggles after the tragedy on the A82.

Recent figures for deaths on Scotland's roads show a rise of more than 20% in 2022 - the highest level in six years.

Samantha has called for road improvements at the site of accidents.

"My life has been turned upside down, it changes you as a person," she said.

"Your whole family is changed forever. I haven't processed it, though I know they've gone. I struggle with it every day."

Rhys, Gemma and their children were killed in the crash near Torlundy, just north of Fort William, at about 17:30 on 20 February 2020.

A 56-year-old woman driving the other vehicle involved suffered serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

Police told Samantha, a mum-of-five from Orkney, later that day.

"It's a night I will never forget," she said.

"With Rhys working for traffic management I thought something had happened to him - I never thought his wife or girls would have been taken too.

"They were amazing - Gemma smiled all the time and Rhys made me laugh every day. Family was everything to them.

"Peyton was her own self, and she was a daddy's girl.

"Heidi had just turned one and just learned to crawl. That was her first milestone, and she always had a smile."

Samantha said the deaths of Gemma and Rhys had changed her family forever

Recent figures for fatalities on Scotland's roads show a rise of more than 20% in 2022 compared to the year before - the highest level in six years, with the majority of the fatalities in the Highlands.

The provisional statistics produced by the UK Department for Transport recorded 174 people lost their lives in road traffic collisions on Scottish roads in 2022.

The number of people injured on Scottish roads last year stood at 5,600.

The Highland area was worst hit with 32 people killed on roads across the region - more than double the number of deaths recorded in 2021.

Heidi had just learned to crawl and Peyton was a daddy's girl.

Samantha said the figures left her feeling sick.

Transport Scotland said any increase in road deaths and injuries was "deeply concerning".

A spokesman said: "Behind every number we see in the statistics today is a loved one who is now tragically no longer with us or a life changed forever.

"One death on our roads is simply one too many."

He said separate to work done by Police Scotland and local authorities, the Scottish government's 2023-24 budget included more than £31m for road safety.