A north MSP has stepped up his campaign to improve road management, driver behaviour and road safety on the A96 Inverness – Nairn Road.
Scottish Labour Spokesman for Transport David Stewart has written to the Transport Minister proposing increased HGV speed from 40mph to 50mph, improved signage especially in relation to advisory signage telling drivers of slow moving vehicles to pull over and let faster vehicles passed.
He also proposed additional laybys and fore though about building a crawler lane or overtaking lane between Inverness and Nairn, similar to the two between Brodie and Elgin.
Yesterday, Mr Stewart lodged an FOI request with Police Scotland asking about penalties and advice for drivers on the road.
He said “ Excessive speed, driver behaviour, road conditions and importantly frustration contribute to road collisions. The Police are rightly pretty good at dealing with speeding drivers. They are easy to deal with and are responsible for generating millions in fines. What I want to know is what is being done about the motorists that use the A96 Inverness – Nairn Road every day, usually at peak rush hour times and have 20 or 30 vehicles queuing up behind them. All they have to do is engage common sense and pull over, but they don’t.”
“Frustration makes some drivers take a course of action which is not acceptable, they take risks, risks to their own and other people’s lives. We need to address adverse driver behaviour and also those elements of driving that cause frustration. You just need to drive East or West on the A96 from Gollanfield to Inverness or Inverness to Gollanfield every day at rush hour and you will more than likely join the end of a very long queue travelling at 40mph. Where are the Police at these times, why is positive action not been taken against the drivers of slow vehicles that fail to pull over?”