ROAD safety campaigners have raised concerns at a rise in the number of deaths and injuries on Scottish roads while the number of motorcycling deaths doubled.
New figures show that the numbers killed in motorcyle crashes in Scotland has soared since the lockdown year of 2020 from 16 to 30.
There were 1760 people killed or seriously hurt on Scottish roads in 2021 - a rise of nearly 100 since 2020.
One in three road deaths and serious injuries - 545 out of 1,760 - involved cyclists or people on foot.
That rose to more than half (54%) on roads with speed limits of 30mph or less.
But new figures also show that as many as one in five road deaths and serious injuries (312 out of 1,760) involved motorcycles.
Motorcycle deaths and serious injuries in Scotland have soared by 20% from 261 in 2020 to 312 in 2021 compared to 16% in Britain. Among those that died was 53-year-old mother Yvonne Motherwell, who died in a road crash on the A706 near Wilsontown in Lanarkshire.
The 53-year-old, from the Lanark area, was killed on the road near the junction with Pleasance Row in Wilsontown in April.
Ms Motherwell was the rider of a black Suzuki motorcycle while the other vehicle involved was a black BMW car.
A 20-year-old man was arrested in connection with the crash at the time and released pending further enquiries.
In a statement the devastated family said they had taken comfort knowing that Yvonne died doing something she loved.
Now Brake, which coordinates Road Safety Week which is launched today (Monday) and provides help for families bereaved and seriously injured by road crashes, calls on everyone, particularly drivers, to help "end the carnage and make roads safe for all". They are concerned that people on foot, bicycles and motorcycles are facing particular risks on the roads.
And they have called on all drivers to learn and follow the new Highway Code, which changed this year to give greater priority to people on bicycles and foot.
"All drivers can stay within speed limits, watch out for people, and give more space," brake said.
Mary Williams, chief executive of Brake, said: "Brake's National Road Victim Service sees the devastation caused by road crashes, which strike at the heart of families. We can and must all work together to stop these appalling tragedies and make our roads safe for all." "We are appealing to everyone, particularly drivers, employers and communities, to shout out for Safe Roads for All in Road Safety Week and every week. Whether you are a driver slowing down, an employer introducing more safe driving policies, or a community working with a local authority for a 20mph limit, we can all make a difference."
Three years ago a Road Safety Scotland campaign supported by Police Scotland, featured a film, The Devil’s Beeftub, which focussed on bikers riding in groups and the dangers to be particularly aware of when enjoying Scotland’s roads.
Filmed in the Borders region, the film highlighted the potential hazards including sheep, stationary cars and blind bends, and finishes with the strapline ‘be aware on breathtaking roads, don’t let them take your breath away for good’.
In came after the then latest tragedy to hit Scotland's roads ,when father-of-one James Lynagh from Tain was the rider of a Suzuki GSF600 motorcycle when it was involved in a one-vehicle collision on Culduthel Road in Inverness.
Outdoor posters were displayed at key locations on Scotland’s most popular motorcycle routes, encouraging bikers to visit the dedicated Live Fast, Die Old website and Facebook page for best practice advice.
Separate Transport Scotland analysis shows the highest rate of accidents occurred in the category of males between 17 to 25 age group with 1.9 per thousand population.
This figure was 1.1 for females of the same age.
It comes as a cycling charity called on Police Scotland not to scrap its plans for a dashcam safety portal.
Cycling UK Scotland have expressed fears that the portal – which would give the public an effective means of submitting video evidence of dangerous behaviour on the roads – will be scrapped as Police Scotland reviews its services in an effort to cope with a straitened budget.
In 2020, cyclist David Brennan attempted to use video footage to prove to police that he was assaulted while riding his bike in Glasgow.
However, despite the clear evidence the driver was not prosecuted and Brennan himself received a warning from police for swearing in the video.
The Crown Office later overturned the warning but Cycling UK said the case highlighted the need for a system that allowed road users to upload camera footage directly to the police while reporting an incident.
In March, Police Scotland agreed to develop a National Dashcam Safety Portal that would do just that.
But with the force warning that road policing services are under review in an attempt to meet budget constraints, Cycling UK called on Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone to prevent the scrapping of the portal.
Currently those reporting a crime on the road are able to show police dashcam footage after filling out a form and being visited by an officer.
But the charity said this is “a slower and nationally less consistent process than what is planned for the Dashcam Safety Portal”.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel