TWO motorists have died after a car was driven in the wrong direction on a busy dual carriageway and hit an oncoming vehicle.
The head-on collision happened at around 1.15am yesterday on the A720 City of Edinburgh Bypass near the Sheriffhall Roundabout.
Both drivers, a man and a woman, suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene.
A Scottish Ambulance spokesman said two ambulances attended the incident but no-one was taken to hospital.
Neither of the motorists had passengers in their vehicles.
Lothian and Borders Police said the road was closed immediately after the incident to recover the vehicles but was fully open by 6am yesterday.
They added that next of kin had been informed.
Detectives are now appealing to anyone who may have seen a vehicle being driven eastbound on the westbound carriageway, or anyone who witnessed the collision, to contact them on 0131 311 3131.
It is the third incident this year in which a motorist has been killed due to a vehicle being driven the wrong way on a main road in Scotland.
In January, Carol Ann Greig, 54, died after she drove the wrong way down the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen dual carriageway and hit three cars.
Mrs Greig, from Angus, died after her silver Nissan Micra drove south along the northbound carriageway and collided with a Vauxhall Zafira, a Peugeot 107 and a Citroen Berlingo.
She was pronounced dead at the scene after the multiple collision.
One of the other drivers was seriously injured.
The following month, mother-of-three Margo Boulazreg, 52, from Houston in Renfrewshire, was killed when she was hit in a head-on crash caused by a motorist who drove in the wrong direction on the eastbound M8 in Glasgow.
The charity worker was killed after a Renault Megane was driven into her Fiat Punto.
Her 18-year-old son Callum was seriously injured in the collision.
AA spokesman Luke Bosdet said accidents involving motorists driving in the wrong direction on busy roads happened “sporadically”.
He said: “It’s not a new thing, it’s not common thankfully, but it can happen.
“It can happen when people get confused or they maybe lose concentration.
“But it happens across age ranges and there are lots of contributing factors.
“Some people have maybe taken a wrong turn or perhaps their mind is on something else.
“Quite often it might be that the driver is in a foreign country.
“In the worst instances people may be under the influence of drink or drugs.”
Meanwhile, another driver was killed on a Scottish road at the weekend.
Robert McCormick, 51, a hotel porter from Glasgow Street, Dumfries, suffered fatal injuries in the crash at around 11am on Saturday.
The incident happened in an area known as the Devil’s Beef Tub, on the A701 about six miles north of Moffat.
It involved a silver Renault Megane, which was being driven by Mr McCormick, and a red Fiat Ducato van.
The driver and one passenger in the Fiat Ducato were taken to Dumfries Royal Infirmary for treatment while a third occupant did not sustain any injuries.
The road was closed for around nine hours to allow an accident investigation to be completed.
Lothian and Borders police urged witnesses to come forward.
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