I’ve driven up and down the A9 for longer than I care to remember. I’ve done the trip when it was still single carriageway with about, oh, 3 overtake spots on the whole length..
The switch between single and dual is possibly a factor. The impatience with folk barging past, intent on getting past the next car, van or HGV that’s “holding them up” is, from my observation, the single biggest factor.
Is it locals that “know the road better than the tourists”; is it folk that have a deadline to meet? is it folk that have realised it’s a lot longer than they thought and they /have/ to be in Aviemore by 5pm? Don’t know. But I’ve seen quite a few after-effects of poor driving to want to repeat the experience..