A LAWYER has warned that it is only a matter of time before a cyclist is killed because of Edinburgh Council’s inertia over tram track changes.

Patrick McGuire, a partner in Thompsons Solicitors, said the firm had more than 100 pending cases of cyclists who had sustained various injuries after accidents on the tram lines. He added that the true total of the number who had been hurt was far more than official figures suggested.

“We are absolutely serious about the possibility of a fatality,” he told The National. “It’s only a matter of time unless the council takes action to improve safety. This is a timebomb ticking away.”

McGuire said the cases he was handling involved varying degrees of injury.

“We’ve had people with broken arms, broken legs and and collar bones, dislocated shoulders, one who lost a finger tip,” he said. “It’s absolutely inevitable that unless something happens we will see a death.”

He added that one simple way to improve safety would be by painting the roads at the most dangerous junctions in a bright colour.

“It would be a simple matter of painting the road surface red, clearly showing cyclists the safest route across them,” said McGuire.

“The council pledged to do this back in March, but so far nothing has happened.

“We don’t want to see these claims continue to mount up. The reason we’re going public is to pressure the council into doing what they said they were going to do months ago.”

However, Edinburgh City Council defended its safety record. Transport convener Lesley Hinds said: “We cannot comment on any pending case as that would be sub judice. As a council we are committed to keeping our roads safe, and have gone to every effort to raise awareness of this amongst all road users, including a comprehensive safety campaign leading up to the introduction of the trams.

“Since then we have worked to promote safety messages to those sharing the street with the tram and continue to do so.

“We have always encouraged cyclists to take care when travelling near the tram tracks, especially during wet weather when they can become slippery, and the council advises that it’s best to cross the tracks as close to a right angle as possible and to take extra care to avoid getting wheels caught in between the rail grooves.”

She added: “We have also installed signage, which helps to guide cyclists along the safest possible routes.”

McGuire said Haymarket, in the west end of Edinburgh, was regarded by cyclists as the most dangerous section of track. They said the angle at which the line crossed the road made it almost impossible to navigate safely.

One casualty, local businessman Hamish Mitchell, told BBC Scotland he required surgery after falling from his bike in the area.

He said: “My wheel slipped on the surface of the tram line. I landed on my knee, pulled my hip, damaged my shoulder, broke three teeth and took the end off my finger. All of that happened in milliseconds.”

McGuire added: “Edinburgh city council have a statutory duty under the Road Traffic Act to ensure the safety of cyclists, to ensure the lessons from previous accidents are learned, and to make changes.

“They have utterly failed in that. Cyclists are doing absolutely the right thing in coming forward and demanding these changes.”