Readers letters: Learning curve as we adapt to road safety

"Pop-up cycle lanes are in their infancy and are not all perfect, but at least it's a start”

Learning curve as we adapt to road safety

Our Aberdeen-based solicitor, Roz Boynton recently wrote about the ‘Spaces for People’ initiative and said that Cycle Law Scotland had been approached by a number of cyclists injured as a result of coming into contact with poorly implemented schemes.

None of us at Cycle Law Scotland has had the pleasure of riding all the various routes across Scotland which have had changes put in place over the last 6-9 months. The experience will undoubtedly be different in Edinburgh, Glasgow or elsewhere based on the local authority overseeing it.

We were contacted on social media by cyclists from across Scotland who wished to express how much safer they feel now cycling across their city. Over 40km of segregated cycleways have been created in Edinburgh alone and road closures around schools, in particular, have improved things immensely for many families.

Several acknowledged, as do we, that these pop-up cycle lanes are in their infancy and are not all perfect, but at least it's a start and over time they can be improved.

At Cycle Law Scotland we don’t get involved in party politics. As a specialist law firm representing injured cyclists, our focus is always on our clients.

We want to see safe cycling accessible to all and any changes to infrastructure that make roads safer should be welcomed. It is of course correct to keep changes under careful review.

In order to improve the health of the nation, reduce CO2 emissions to hit a net zero target by 2030, reduce congestion in our towns and cities, then we need to encourage more sustainable travel. Ensuring greater safety on our roads will be key to achieving these goals.

Rod Mitchell, Cycle Law Scotland, Edinburgh.

Does SNP influence BBC Scotland output?

I cannot be the only one baffled as to the purpose of BBC Reporting Scotland.

We are fed a daily diet of the same UK and international news that is already on the main BBC news, plus the obligatory crime reports and extensive football coverage. One has to wonder why important matters affecting Scotland are rarely given a mention.

I am sure people in Scotland would want to know how the government at Holyrood is managing our hard-earned taxes so that they will be better placed to judge its performance.

Recent items which escaped the notice of BBC Reporting Scotland include the Legatum Report, which found that Scotland is the worst region in the UK in terms of education performance and has the worst investment environment in the UK.

Also not deemed worth a mention was that in four months the Ferguson Marine shipyard, taken into public ownership in December 2019, lost £100 million of taxpayers money. It is being run by a “ turnaround expert “ on a salary of £790,000 a year.

There has been silence on the deal struck with the steel company boss Sanjeev Gupta which exposes the Scottish taxpayers to hundreds of millions of pounds in losses should his fragile empire fold.

A report recently released stated that at least 20 cases of people being transferred from hospitals to care homes during the pandemic were unlawful.

Three members of the Holyrood Finance and Audit Committee resigned recently because they were refused access to the books.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are on a tour of Scotland. I wait for an update on their movements but BBC Reporting Scotland have disappointed me.

These items are of public interest and questions have to be asked regarding the SNP’s influence over BBC Scotland.

Donald Lewis, East Lothian.