Minister says sorry for one-way blunder
SCOTTISH Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has apologised after he was filmed cycling the wrong way up a one-way street.
Mr Harvie, who was recently appointed Active Travel minister, was caught on a driver’s dashcam cycling near Glasgow Green.
He initially accused the motorist of driving towards him and denied he was at fault, writing on Twitter: ‘No, I was coming out of the park onto a two-way street, you had plenty of time to see me but you drove right at me.’
Dashcam footage showed Mr Harvie cycling up Greendyke Street in Glasgow on September 13. In the video, the politician can be seen cycling the wrong direction up the street before veering into a filter lane where he appears to shout something at the driver.
Later, Mr Harvie admitted he was at fault but insists the driver was partly to blame.
Mr Harvie told the Scottish Sun: ‘I came into the road slightly too early, and I’m sorry about that. Despite my mistake, it was no excuse for a driver to aim directly at me.’
Mr Harvie has previously been criticised for not wearing a helmet when cycling. One brain injury charity said his ‘negative language’ put lives at risk.
While it is not legally required by law, it is highly recommended in the Highway Code. He has claimed helmets are ‘not my style’ and said it made him feel like he was doing an extreme sport.
Scots Tory transport spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘This is embarrassing for Patrick Harvie, who should have had the decency to own up to this mistake.
‘If he wants to encourage people to take up cycling, perhaps he could start practising what he preaches.’
The Greens have a host of policies based around walking and cycling, and want to increase the Scottish Government’s spending on active travel from 2 per cent to 10 per cent.
They say this would bring Scotland in line with other northern European countries, which have a higher number of trips made on foot or by bike, and also help to reduce pollution.
The party wants to work with local authorities to improve bike paths and pedestrian routes as well as give every child in Scotland the opportunity to undertake on-road cycle training.
It has called for 20mph speed limits in residential areas.