Don’t endanger road safety

Sir, I was shocked to learn that Argyll and Bute Council is to consider disbanding its Road Safety Unit as part of budget savings for 20182019.

The unit formerly employed three officers, but as part of a savings exercise some years ago has already been reduced to one full-time and one term-time officer.

The proposal is to remove this service completely and the council justifies this by stating that ‘road safety information will be available through other organisations’. This suggests to me that they do not understand the complexity of how education and training is delivered.

The proposal also does not say which other organisation has the ability and skills to adequately replace council’s current input. Having read Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service local plans I can find no hint that they are ready to accept responsibility.

I believe the current unit plays an extremely active role in promoting road safety education for all road users across Argyll and Bute, and in particular our schools - today’s children are tomorrow’s drivers.

Though one death on our roads is one too many, casualty numbers have been steadily declining since 1970s. Indeed, recent reports show that fatal casualties have been reduced to less than one third of their peak in 1969. This shows that current methods are working, and I cannot believe Argyll and Bute Council is willing to put this ‘good news’ trend at risk.

The council also has a responsibility to play a major role in road casualty reduction as contained in numerous publications, including Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020; RoSPA National Road Safety Committee ‘Making Road Safety Count’; and the Road Traffic Act 1988 (Section 39).

Whilst I appreciate councillors will have a difficult time deciding on where savings are to be made, I suggest that the small Road Safety Unit should be retained, and the option be removed from the proposed cuts. Carl Olivarius, Lochgilphead - Road Safety Officer between 1982-2009