22/09/14

Campaigners have renewed calls for presumed liability to be introduced in Scotland, following a recent wave of tragic collisions between cyclists and motorists and are urging people to sign their online petition to bring Scots Civil Law in line with the rest of Europe.
 
Eight cyclists have already died this year, with three of these tragedies taking place just earlier this month with two of those cyclists taking part in charity rides.
 
On September 6, Anna Roots who was cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for leukemia and lymphoma research was killed following a collision with an articulated lorry in Sutherland.
 
On September 7, Neil Jaffrey died after a crash involving a car on North Anderson Drive in Aberdeen.
 
Most recently, Sally Preece died on September 12 from injuries sustained in a collision which took place as she rode in Deloitte's Ride Across Britain cycling event.
 
Now, the campaign leaders say enough is enough.
 
While the Government continues to debate new infrastructure measures and low speed limits, a move towards presumed liability would instil a culture of respect between all road users, quickly and effectively.
 
Brenda Mitchell of Cycle Law Scotland (CLS), a specialist law firm representing the interests of cyclists and the founder of the campaign for presumed liability Road Share, says that it is time to introduce a regime in Civil Law where a driver involved in a collision with a cyclist would have to prove that they were not at fault. Under such a regime, all vulnerable road users, including pedestrians, would be protected.
In order to achieve this, the campaign is working towards seeing a Members Bill presented to the Scottish parliament later this year.
 
So far, the campaign has won cross party support from SNP, Lib Dem, Green and Independent MSPs as well as public figures such as Nick Nairn, Lesley Riddoch and Cameron McNeish. The online petition has also secured the support of over 6400 signatures.
 
Brenda, a personal injury lawyer with 25 years’ experience of dealing with civil cases involving road traffic collisions, says it’s time discussions turned into action:
 
“I’ve said it before and I’m saddened I have cause to say it again but, enough is surely enough.
 
“How many more people have to suffer before something’s done to protect cyclists? The recent terrifying trend in cycle collisions proves something must be done to improve safety for all road users and quickly. We cannot and must not sit by and let this continue without fundamentally changing the mindset of all road users to respect the need to share the road space.
 
“We are calling for increased support for the introduction of presumed liability which would change the Civil Law whereby motorists involved in collisions are deemed liable to compensate injured cyclists or pedestrians unless they can prove otherwise. This shift in the burden of proof from the vulnerable to the powerful would encourage   road users to increase their consideration for each other and be especially vigilant around the more vulnerable therefore potentially reducing the number of tragic incidents.
 
“Alteration of civil liability laws to protect cyclists and pedestrians has already significantly improved the culture and reduced the number of people injured or killed for our European neighbours. It’s about time we joined them.
 
“The more people who sign our petition the more pressure we can put on government to change the law to protect vulnerable road users.”
 
Road Share is also keen to see further protection made available to the elderly, disabled and young road users, as is the case in most European Countries where strict liability regimes exist. In these countries, those who are disabled, under the age of 14 and over 70 are afforded further protection in Civil Law to such an extent that in a collision with a motorised vehicle it is the motorist who is deemed liable.

The Road Share campaign is inviting you to get behind the call for presumed liability and help change how road users view one another. To add your name to the petition visit here.