Don’t blame drivers for M80 madness

LET us get one thing straight: No one chose to spend bitterly cold hours marooned on the M80. We must be careful not to jump to judgment with assumptions that those who did find themselves stuck had ignored advice not to travel.

Many of those caught as the so-called Beast From the East struck were in fact heeding warnings to get away from work early and simply ran out of time.

In the midst of the current atrocious weather there have, of course, been countless gestures of generosity. They have ranged from people checking on elderly neighbours to locals braving the Siberian blast to get hot drinks and food to stranded drivers.

Workers across the country, notably in the NHS, have pulled out all the stops to get to their posts.

The emergency services have been their usual magnificent selves and the military have shown themselves up to the task when trouble strikes.

It is hard to argue with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Transport Secretary Humza Yousaf when they pinpoint HGVs as a problem on the roads when snow and ice strike.

These vehicles can struggle for traction when conditions deteriorate and their sheer size makes them formidable road-blocks.

But this is a delicate issue. It would be easy to imagine all trucks being ordered off the roads as soon as a single snowflake falls, but sense must prevail.

The haulage industry points out that they deliver so much more than just fripperies and luxuries.

Pictures we carry today show supermarket shelves stripped of milk and bread, bare as a direct result of deliveries that did not get through.

So rather than tub-thumping soundbites, we need politicians to sit down and have sensible discussions about what lessons we need to draw from this ongoing bout of miserable weather.

The reality is that our transport infrastructure is vulnerable to severe weather and our geography exacerbates the issue.

When the Beast finally loosens its icy fingers, we need Holyrood to act to mitigate as far as possible future spiteful attacks from Mother Nature.