A DETAILED police investigation was continuing yesterday to establish the cause of a crash that claimed the life of a 15-year-old schoolgirl.
Lauren Roberts, of Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, was a passenger in one of two vehicles that collided on the A90 Aberdeen to Peterhead road, near the entrance to Peterhead power station on the outskirts of the town.
Two boys, both aged 17, and anot
her 15-year-old girl were injured in the crash, together with the 23-year-old driver of the other car.
The second girl had to be freed from the mangled wreckage by firefighters.
The accident happened at 10pm on Sunday night, on a stretch of road that includes a 40mph speed limit.
Miss Roberts' grieving parents, Karen and Jon, were being comforted by friends and relatives at their home yesterday and were too upset to speak.
A family friend, who asked not to be named, said: "They are absolutely devastated. This was the last thing anyone expected to happen. It's not sunk in yet. I don't know when it will."
Lauren's webpage on a social networking site was flooded with tributes from her friends. One message said: "You were so stunning and so special and didn't deserve to go."
Miss Roberts, who would have been 16 on 31 December, worked part-time as a waitress at Cruden Bay golf club and had been on study leave preparing for her Standard Grade examinations.
The busy A90 and the Peterhead bypass was closed for almost eight hours as Grampian Police officers carried out an examination of the scene of the fatal crash.
Miss Roberts was one of four people travelling in a black Renault Clio, which was involved in a collision with a blue Ford Fiesta, in which the 23-year-old driver was the only occupant. A spokesman for Grampian Police said: "The other occupants of the Renault Clio, two 17-year-old males and a 15-year-old female, were conveyed to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary by ambulance with injuries which were described at the time as not life-threatening.
The driver of the Fiesta was taken to Peterhead Hospital and released after treatment.
Sergeant Graham Sloan, of the force's roads policing unit, said: "We are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the collision, or who may have stopped and assisted at the scene before continuing their journey, to contact us.
"We would also like to speak to anyone who was travelling on the A90 near the scene at about 10pm."
Sam Coull, the local Liberal Democrat councillor, said the stretch of road where the accident happened did not have a record for serious or fatal accidents.
He said: "It is not an accident black spot. There have been one or two shunts and bumps on that stretch of road but I have not seen a lot of people coming to grief there.
"There is a 40mph limit through Stirling village all the way to the gates of the power station, and there is a slow bend with excellent visibility all the way going north. It is obviously a tragedy for the girl's family."
The full article contains 530 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
