Readers' letters: Drivers flouting the green man system

While it was good to read recent statement on transport and traffic improvements (News, 15 February) from Councillor Scott Arthur (the only councillor that appears to do anything), nothing will change unless the behaviour of drivers improves and the council and the police actually take notice of the dangerous incidents surrounding the green man system every day.
Green man pedestrian traffic lights are being ignored in the cityGreen man pedestrian traffic lights are being ignored in the city
Green man pedestrian traffic lights are being ignored in the city

It is all very well to witter on about people illegally turning left off Leith Walk through the green man, but this has been happening to a significantly greater extent for many, many years at the Hanover Street junction for traffic from The Mound and nothing has been done about it.

Every day there are hundreds of drivers who flout the law by driving through the green man signals as they have run the red light at the foot of The Mound.

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Just stand there for 10 minutes and count them! Never mind cars, lorries, Lothian Buses are also among the culprits. Or how about sitting blocking the pedestrian route?

It is illegal to run these lights and yet nothing has been done about it for more years than I can remember.

Why has an automatically activated number plate camera not been placed here, which would provide a large revenue each year? A traffic warden with a camera would also achieve this.

I can only assume no one in authority cares enough. There is more headline grabbing to be made by creating a problem such as that in Leith Walk and then saying we're fixing it.

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To help with the Mound route issue, I suggest that only public transport is allowed to use that route during the day.

The same situation happens with the lights leading on/off South Charlotte Street, making it dangerous to cross.

James Darroch, Edinburgh

Murray wrong to knock Sturgeon rule

Contrary to Ian Murray’s claims (News, 16 February) under Nicola Sturgeon the SNP has delivered the most progressive policies of any party in the history of the Scottish Parliament while tacking inequality with life changing policies.

They include vastly increased child care and the Scottish Child Payment, which give the poorest families £2000 a year more disposable income than anywhere else in the UK.

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Official statistics show that in 2022 the poverty-related attainment gaps in literacy and numeracy levels across primary schools in Scotland have seen the biggest narrowing of the attainment gap since records began.

Under Nicola Sturgeon the SNP has embraced gradualism, globalism and become a leader in tackling climate change with increased support for renewable energy.

Scotland’s NHS has a record number of staff, the highest number of GPs per head in the UK and the best performing A&E services in the UK for over seven years running.

The co-operative SNP supports EU membership and opposes Brexit, which has been an economic disaster for Scotland while “Little Britain” Labour even opposes EU freedom of movement.

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Labour failed to stand up for Scotland when Westminster used Brexit for power grabs over Holyrood responsibilities or when Westminster Tories overruled Scottish Parliament legislation and support the Tories in denying our democratic mandate to hold a referendum on Scotland's future.

Ian Murray MP is no position to talk about polarisation and toxic politics when the Labour Party bans Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a candidate, yet approved the former leader of the Orange Order as a candidate.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh

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