SNP told ‘anti-car Green’ partnership to blame for highest UK road …
The SNP government has allowed the anti-road rhetoric[1] of the Scottish Greens delay key road development projects and now accident fatalities are sitting at their highest level since 2016, according to the Scottish Conservatives.
New figures from Transport Scotland[2] have put the number of deaths on roads last year at 173, including three children with the North East region[3] registering some of the highest figures. The figure is notably a 10 per cent rise on the 2021 figure with 32 deaths.
Green leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater[4] have been branded "anti-car" for favouring public transport investment over upgrade projects like dualling the A9[5] that saw a record breaking year for deaths in 2022.
Scottish Conservative transport spokesman Graham Simpson MSP said: "If the SNP keep bowing to their Green coalition partners, that only increases the risk of a greater number of incidents on dangerous roads in Scotland."
The data collected from Police Scotland concluded that Scotland now has a higher rate of road deaths per million population than UK. Scotland has a rate of 32 deaths per million, compared to a UK rate of 26 deaths per million. It is the highest rate of any of the home nations, compared to England (25), Northern Ireland (29) and Wales at 30.
Mr Simpson added: "My thoughts are with those families who are grieving the loss of a loved one on Scotland's roads last year.
"It is deeply concerning to see that the number of fatalities are at their highest level in six years and now effectively at the level they were at a decade ago. The figures reaffirm the need to urgently upgrade key trunk roads and routes across the country, as far too many of them are unsafe for road users.
"Ever since bringing the extremist, anti-car Greens into government, SNP ministers have been rowing back on their previous commitments to upgrade these roads, with dreadful consequences. Deaths on the notorious A9 have now reached a tragic 20-year high.
"If the SNP keep bowing to their Green coalition partners, that only increases the risk of a greater number of incidents on dangerous roads in Scotland. The SNP are miles off meeting their target to halve the number of deaths on our roads by 2030, and deaths here are higher than in the rest of the United Kingdom.
"These figures must be the urgent wake-up call for them to finally prioritise investment in upgrading critical trunk roads to guarantee motorists feel as safe as possible."
'The Greens only care about demonising motorists'
Alexander Burnett at the dangerous Huntly junction in Aberdeenshire
The increase in casualties is said to be linked to the higher levels of traffic seen in 2022 compared with 2021 however high rates have been concentrated on regions where the SNP government identified the need for road improvements.
In Aberdeenshire where delays to road projects like the A96 have caused uproar among locals, the fatality level remains at the highest level in four years as 17 people were killed on routes across the region in 2022. The figures show deaths on North East roads are the third highest in Scotland and are above the 2018-22 average. They also remain higher than four years ago when 15 people died.
Alexander Burnett, a Tory MSP for the North East said: "These figures are harrowing and my thoughts go to the families who have tragically lost loved ones on roads in the North East. One death is one too many and it’s clear Aberdeenshire’s roads are not fit for purpose. Instead of focussing on 20mph zones in every settlement, the Scottish Government must look at prioritising the North East's trunk road network rather than only caring about the Central Belt."
He added: "Roads like the A96 should have been dualled by now but instead, the SNP Government is betraying our region by reneging on its promise which it made more than a decade ago. They must put the safety of motorists first ahead of the interests of the Greens who only care about demonising motorists."
Fiona Hyslop responds to the figures
The data also revealed that 1,776 people were seriously injured and 3,672 people were slightly injured in road collisions. There were 587 child casualties reported in 2022, representing 10 per cent of all casualties. Three children were killed, and 176 children were seriously injured.
Transport minister Fiona Hyslop said: "One death on our roads is simply one too many. My thoughts are with the families and friends who have tragically lost a loved one, and those whose lives are changed forever. We do not accept that road casualties are inevitable and are determined to do everything we can to ensure these numbers come down as we work towards our long-term target of no-one being seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050.
"That is why the Scottish Government is investing more than £31 million on road safety this financial year to support projects such as our trunk road casualty reduction programme, the road safety improvement fund, our safety camera programme, and the expansion of 20mph areas in communities across Scotland. This is in addition to Police Scotland's enforcement work and the action taken by our local authorities."
She also stressed the importance of action to "make walking, wheeling and cycling easier and safer across the country", saying there has been "record investment in active travel this financial year".
Ms Hyslop added: "Road safety remains an absolute priority for this Government and we are determined to continue working towards our goal of Scotland having the best road safety performance in the world by 2030."
The Scottish Greens have been asked for comment.
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References
- ^ anti-road rhetoric (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
- ^ figures from Transport Scotland (www.transport.gov.scot)
- ^ North East region (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
- ^ Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
- ^ projects like dualling the A9 (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
- ^ SNP's A9 dualling failure is 'national scandal' as Scots inundate Transport Scotland with complaints (www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk)
- ^ here (data.reachplc.com)