Loch Lomond roads could be safer

Sep 5 2008 by Tina Kemp, Lennox Herald (main ed)

LOCH Lomond’s danger routes would be safer – if Scottish motorists drove on the RIGHT side of the road.

That’s the radical suggestion from Helensburgh politician John Black, who believes serious road accidents would be slashed if Scots switched driving seats.

Mr Black, founder of the Scottish Jacobite Party, will formally announce the policy during a lecture in the United States, where he used to work, next month.

And in response to claims that his idea was ridiculous, he said: “It’s been done elsewhere and it would work here if done properly.”

Mr Black said confusion among foreign drivers – millions of who flock to Scotland and the lochside each year – was a major cause of accidents.

A number of fatal crashes involving overseas drivers have been recorded on the notorious A82 lochside road in recent years.

And Mr Black recently narrowly missed being involved in a collision himself on the Gartocharn to Drymen road.

He said: “I was driving along the road when I saw an elderly couple with foreign plates on the wrong side of the road. I think they had stopped at a layby and when they took off went to the right side instead of the left.

“Drivers come out of the entrance to Cameron House forgetting where they are and go to the wrong side of the road.

“This is the cause of a significant number of accidents and the best way to stop it is to drive on the other side of the road.”

Mr Black, who stood as a candidate in the Scottish Parliament elections last year, will announce the proposal as part of his party’s transport policy.

And he wants transport bosses to take him seriously, saying the move would bring Scotland into line with most of the rest of Europe.

“We need to switch”, he said. “It was done in Sweden and it can be done here.It simply requires a good public policy and a determined effort to do it properly and carefully.”

The UK is one of only four European countries, along with Malta, Ireland and Cyprus, which drive on the left hand side of the road.

On September 3, 1967, at 4.50am, the traffic everywhere in Sweden was directed to the right side of the road and stopped. Ten minutes later, when it started again, all road users remained on the right and the switch was completed.

Mr Black also wants to see raised yellow lines at the approach to roundabouts scrapped, claiming they are a safety hazard.

He said: “They are meant to give the impression drivers are going quicker to encourage them to slow down but they pose a risk of seriously disrupting vehicle suspension and are particularly bad for motorcycles, bringing the front wheel up and down. That’s the last thing you need when breaking.

“What we need to do is educate people to drive better.”

JOHN BLACK