Government in reverse on road safety
The Scottish Government is hitting reverse on road safety, says Scottish Green MSP Mark Ruskell.
This comes as Ministers have decided not to reduce national speed limits on single carriageways to 50mph while increasing it to 50mph for Heavy Goods Vehicles.
Transport Scotland’s report noted that their proposed changes had been evaluated alongside extensive evidence. This showed that their proposed changes “could reduce the number and severity of injury collisions, whilst broadly maintaining journey times, improving journey time reliability and reducing driver frustration.”
Mark Ruskell MSP said:
“This is a regrettable decision that goes against the evidence.
“Our priority has to be preventing accidents and saving lives. Lower speeds have been shown to reduce the number and severity of incidents, with limited impact on journey times.
“When it comes to road safety the Scottish Government is in reverse. Reducing speed on single-lane carriageways could make for safer rural roads in particular.
“There is a role for average speed cameras and other safety measures, but if we are to bring down fatalities we need to be bringing down speeds.”