Fears road safety targets are too high
South Lanarkshire councillors have questioned whether new road safety targets are too high.
At the Roads Safety Forum last week, it was revealed that South Lanarkshire Council will work towards national targets in a bid to reduce fatalities significantly.
This is in line with the Scottish Government’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 which aims to reduce the number of casualties and serious injuries on the roads.
The new targets received mixed responses from councillors, who suggested they could be hard to meet.
Rutherglen South Councillor Robert Brown said:“The gap between where we are just now and achieving them is really the challenge here.
“We’ve made good progress over the years in broadly reducing the number of casualties, but one would presumably imagine that unless there are significant major differences in what we do then achieving the ambitious targets would not be possible.”
Targets include a 50 percent reduction in the number of people killed on the roads, along with a 50 per cent reduction in people being seriously injured.
The Government also aims to decrease the number of children aged 16 and under being killed in car accidents by 60 per cent, along with a 60 per cent drop in children being seriously injured.
To reach these goals, performance indicators will be in place along with heavier enforcement in place across the region.
In its National Speed Limit Review, Transport Scotland will look at speed limits in urban and rural areas and motorways as well as potentially introducing a 20 mile per hour speed limit in residential areas.
Hamilton North and East Councillor Davie McLachlan, questioned the amount of enforcement that will be in place to reach these targets and said:“There is the mention of more enforcement, it’s ever increasing the amount of 20 mile per hour speed limits we are getting in various areas and that is welcomed.
“But from my own experience, I live in a 20 mile per hour zone, I’ve never seen any enforcement and that has been there for around seven or eight years.
“I’ve never heard of anyone being charged with speeding in those zones. You say more enforcement, but I’ve never seen any enforcement.”
These targets will contribute to the Government’s long-term goal of‘Vision Zero’which aims to reduce the number of fatalities or injuries on the road to zero by 2050.
The council are emphasising a collective approach to meet these targets – all road users, cyclists and pedestrians should work together to ensure safety on the roads.