Urgent action needed to improve road safety
The Scottish Government must take urgent action to save lives on Scotland’s roads, Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell has said.
Mr Ruskell, whose bill to improve road safety by introducing a standard 20mph neighbourhood speed limit was rejected by the Scottish Government last year, made the call on the day Scottish Government statistics revealed that 165 deaths occurred on Scotland’s roads in 2019.
Mark Ruskell MSP said:
“The Scottish Government must take action to stop people being injured or killed on our roads.
“These figures show that there were 5,722 accidents in which someone was killed or injured in 2019, included in that number was 763 child casualties. The statistics also reveal that 165 lives were lost on Scotland’s roads in 2019. This is absolutely appalling.
“Since rejecting my Bill, which was a cheap and straightforward way to save lives, the Transport Secretary has failed to bring forward any proposals of his own. Meanwhile Wales is introducing 20mph limits on every residential street by 2023 and Borders Council who were initially sceptical are now backing 20mph everywhere. Faced with these stark figures, I urge Mr Matheson to urgently reconsider his opposition to my life saving proposal.”