ALL THE REACTION TO GERS’ BIG NIGHT
Scottish transport bosses unveil major plans to cut motoring deaths and injuries
SCOTLAND’S transport chiefs have set out their plans to ensure the nation has best road safety performance in the world by 2030.
And the ambitious targets have been welcomed by leading motoring charity IAM RoadSmart.
The Scottish Road Safety Framework, published yesterday, focusses on five key areas – safe road use, safe vehicles, safe speeds, safe roads and roadsides, and post crash response.
There will also be stringent monitoring to check that specific targets in priority areas are being met.
As part of the initiative, Holyrood Transport Secretary Michael Matheson announced £500,000 of funding to help organisations with innovative projects to improve road safety.
Transport Scotland will also set up partnership forums to expand and tie-in national and local road safety priorities across the country.
The new framework aims to drastically cut road deaths and injuries in the next few years and has the longterm goal of moving close to zero fatalities and serious casualties in road transport by 2050.
The framework launch coincides with a new national anti-speeding campaign with a clear message that there is never an excuse for breaking the limit.
Matheson said: “The Scottish Government is committed to improving road safety and our new framework aims to halve road deaths by 2030 and achieve Vision Zero by 2050.
“Deaths or serious injuries on our road network are not an inevitability. Our strong belief, shared by Scotland’s road safety partners, is that even one death on our roads is one too many.”
The minister said that although casualties on Scotland’s roads were the lowest since records began, the framework aimed to build on the achievements.
And he highlighted an important strand was to support tackling the climate crisis by encouraging cycling and walking for shorter journeys.
He added: “Behavioural change remains key – particularly when it comes to tackling issues such as speeding.”
Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams added: “Reducing road deaths by half over the next 10 years is, rightly, an ambitious target and the force is committed to working closely with our road safety partners to achieve this.
“Deaths and serious injuries caused on our roads can often be prevented and we will continue in our efforts to improve driver behaviour and educate road users, in addition to carrying out enforcement activity against people who put themselves, or other road users, at risk.
“We know speeding is a significant factor in fatal and serious injury collisions and Police Scotland welcomes the new campaign to educate the public around the dangers of travelling at inappropriate speeds.”
UK-wide charity IAM RoadSmart, a strong advocate of road safety targets, is using the Scottish announcement to urge the Department for Transport to reinstate targets in England.
Organisation boss Neil Greig said: “For every nation, the setting of road safety targets has been a catalyst for improvement in road deaths and injury numbers.
“Road safety groups across the UK agree that targets work but the Department for Transport in London no longer uses them. So we have to ask the question – if Scotland can set road safety targets, why can’t England?”
The charity also welcomed the specific focus on ensuring there were fewer accidents involving those driving for work, as well as measures to promote safer motorcycling.
And pointing to the vital roles played by police, education campaigns and engineering works, Greig added: “It is vital that investment in road safety does not become a victim of any postpandemic spending cuts.”