Bilingual road signs for A9 after safety fears allayed

Transport Correspondent

Tuesday 18 September 2012

BILINGUAL road signs will be erected along a 120-mile stretch of the A9 after research concluded that having English and Gaelic place names alongside each other does not increase the risk of accidents.

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DAMIEN HENDERSON Transport Correspondent

The Scottish Government said it would go ahead with its policy of retrofitting signs north of Perth to encourage take-up of Gaelic. It has already spent £2 million fitting multi-lingual signs on the A82 between Tarbet and Inverness, as well as on trunk roads to the western ferry ports at Kennacraig, Oban, Mallaig, Uig and Ullapool.

However, a roll out of the policy to the A9 – the key arterial route to the Highlands – was put on hold amid concern the time taken to absorb the additional information could present a risk to driver safety.Research commissioned by Government agency Transport Scotland and undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory has now allayed such fears. It found that, although bilingual signs "may have increased the demand of the driving task, this increase can be absorbed and managed by the driver and therefore does not result in a significant increase in crash risk and accident involvement".A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said it would now press ahead with a gradual roll-out of bilingual signage on the A9."The extension of the bilingual signing policy to include the A9 is consistent with the aims and objectives of the Gaelic Language Plan: to enhance the status of Gaelic and encourage its use," she said. "The Scottish Government recognises the importance of creating opportunities for the practical use of Gaelic, including its presence on signage. "The extent of the route covered by this policy is from Perth to Inverness and the section north of Inverness up to and including the junction with the A835 Tore to Ullapool trunk road."The move was welcomed by Bòrd na Gàidhlig, which promotes the uptake of Gaelic in Scotland. John Angus MacKay, its chief executive, said: "There have been misconceptions relating to bilingual road signs over the years which can now be completely dismissed. "Bilingual road signs complement the work of Government, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, local authorities and other agencies to promote the Gaelic language as legislated for in the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005."Neil Greig, head of policy at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, who has previously expressed concern about the safety impact of bilingual signs, said: "This seems to address the road safety issue and I am happy to accept it and say there are no longer any road safety problems with these signs."

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Bilingual road signs for A9 after safety fears allayed

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