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No one owns the roads, not cyclists, motorists or pedestrians

cyclist on road
cyclist on road

FATALITIES from road collisions are on the rise again.

After a pattern of falling numbers of crashes, deaths and injuries over many years this year shows an increase already.

We are only at the beginning of June and for Glasgow, it is the third highest in the last 10 years.

READ MORE: More lives lost on Glasgow's roads so far this year than in total last year

Cars have more safety features than ever before, traffic safety measures are in place in cities, particularly in residential areas and around schools, so it should be expected to see fewer people killed or seriously injured in a crash.

This year alone, however as highlighted by the Glasgow Times there have been several cases where people have died.

Late in January, student Emma Newton Burke, 22, was killed after she was hit by a lorry on Broomielaw while she was cycling.

In early February, Chinenye Vera Okonkwo, 33, was standing waiting at a bus in St Vincent Street when she was killed as two cars were in a crash.

Nearby, on the same day and around the same time, a 64-year-old woman was hit by a VW Tiguan on Elmbank Street, at its junction with St Vincent Street, and she died in hospital weeks later.

READ MORE: 'Totally devastating': Man's heartbreak after sister killed by car in Glasgow

A 64-year-old man died after being hit by a car at 8.30pm on Bartiebeith Road. He was walking his dog at the time of the accident on February 6.

Also in February, David Gow, 79, was hit by an off-road motorbike in Balmore Road, in the north of the city.

On March 8, a 58-year-old woman was hit by a car while she was walking along Dougrie Road in Castlemilk.

In April, five-year-old Ayan Khan Nooreen died after he was hit by a bus on Calder Street, in the city’s Southside.

On May 14, 13-year-old Artian Lushaku died after he was hit by a car on Balmore Road.

In these tragic incidents, eight people, young and old, lost their lives while they were simply trying to get around either walking or cycling or waiting on a bus.

The fact there have already been more people killed on the roads in less than six months this year compared to the whole of last year must be a huge concern.

Over a number of years, decades even, there has been a steady pattern of reducing accidents and fatalities on the roads.

To see this turning in the other direction is a warning to us all, everyone who uses the roads.

The increase in more active travel routes to give more space for walking and cycling in Glasgow, and many other towns and cities, has been met with optimism from people who cycle and, in many cases, frustration from many people who use a car as their main method of travel.

The Highway Code is clear on the hierarchy of road users. Pedestrians and wheelchair users first, then cyclists, then private car drivers then bus and lorry drivers at the bottom of the list.

It clearly states: “The lower you are in the hierarchy, the more harm you and your vehicle can cause.”

The roads are for everyone to use, whether you are on foot crossing from one side to the other, or on a bicycle or motorbike, in a bus, or a car or a vehicle essential for work.

The people who lost their lives this year in Glasgow have been killed by a variety of motor vehicles: car, bus, lorry and motorbike.

There will be investigations into each and it does no favours for anyone to speculate exactly what happened.

What we can all do is always be mindful there are other people using the roads when we are on them.

And the bigger the vehicle is, and the faster it is being driven, then the more dangerous it potentially is.

The users that take up the least space and move at the slowest speeds are those who are most vulnerable.

Some of the discussion around the increased investment and space given to cyclists inevitably ends up with the tropes around ‘road tax’.

Despite this being decades after the road licence fund was scrapped and vehicles are simply taxed on the basis of their emissions, which has nothing to do with maintaining roads, this still goes on.

The argument is not only tiresome but false.

The pedestrian who gets killed walking across the road is paying for the roads through the many taxes they pay as much as the car owner who happens to pay vehicle excise duty.

The cyclist who gets killed is paying for the roads as much as the pedestrian or the motorist.

The roads are there for everyone to get around, regardless of mode of transport, age, sex, nationality or occupation.

For decades we have heard the frustrated cry of someone angry at the behaviour of another road user.

“D’ye think ye own the road?”

Sadly, it seems some people think they do, at least for the time they are on it.

We all use it, we all pay for it.

No one ‘owns’ the road.