Slow down plea as road deaths soar
159 killed, 9705 hurt in just a year
SAFETY campaigners are demanding action after figures showed 9705 people were injured and 159 killed on Scottish roads in a year.
The charity Brake want a default 20mph limit in all built-up areas and increased police enforcement.
They also called for Intelligent Speed Adaptation, which helps drivers stay within the speed limit, to be fitted as standard to all new vehicles.
Provisional statistics from the Department for Transport show the number of people killed or injured on the road in the year to June.
New analysis by Brake found that exceeding the speed limit was a factor in 291 crashes in Scotland last year, a rise of more than a quarter since 2013.
Travelling too fast for conditions contributed to 510 crashes during 2016, according to Brake.
Jason Wakeford, director of campaigns for the charity said: “Speeding remains a major problem, causing untold suffering to families up and down the country.
“Driving is unpredictable and if something unexpected happens on the road ahead, such as a child stepping out from between parked cars, it’s a driver’s speed that determines whether they can stop in time and, if they can’t, how hard they will hit.”
A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government continue to take decisive action to improve road safety where we can.
“Through continued education, enforcement and engineering, we are well placed to progress in the right direction towards our targets, making Scotland’s roads safer for everyone.”
There were 191 fatalities on the country’s roads in 2016. That’s 23 – 14 per cent – more than the previous year. AN INVESTIGATION is under way after the world’s longest aircraft broke free from its moorings and crashed into a field.
The 302ft-long Airlander 10 – dubbed the Flying Bum – was seriously damaged. The hull was ripped open and the safety system automatically deflated the 20-ton part-plane-part-airship craft.
Two people on the ground suffered minor injuries in the incident at Cardington, Bedfordshire, on Saturday.
Experts from the Air Accident Investigation Branch have been brought in.