SCOTTISH Greens MSP Mark Ruskell has written to Nicola Sturgeon, urging her to back his Safer Streets 20mph Bill.
The call comes ahead of a debate of the Bill at Holyrood, set to take place this Thursday.
The letter outlines the potential benefits of the Bill, which seeks to reduce accidents, address inequalities, encourage more people to walk and cycle and ultimately save lives.
Ruskell writes that, unless “this bill is passed it will continue to be a postcode lottery for children when it comes to safer streets”.
“I believe that all children across the country should be given this basic protection and I note that this is increasingly the direction of travel elsewhere.
“Indeed, just last month, the first minister of Wales committed to introducing a 20mph default while London is already rolling out the lower limit. It would be deeply disappointing to see Scotland lagging behind on such a vital public safety issue.”
The Greens commissioned a Survation poll earlier this year
which found that 72% of people polled backed the proposal, with 81% of SNP voters were also supportive.
SNP MSP John Mason was among the members of the Connectivity Committee who supported the proposal. Ruskell added: “Child safety, cycling, walking, environmental and health organisations all back the Bill, and polling shows that the Scottish public are supportive of the Bill.”
The letter also goes on to note that the Scottish Government has not yet offered alternatives on the proposals and concludes by calling on the First Minister to put the interests of children and communities first.
“This is a simple but effective means of improving and saving lives,” the letter concludes.
An SNP spokesperson said: “Given the varied nature of Scotland’s road network, we believe decisions on 20mph speed limits are best taken at local authority level, and the ‘one-size-fits all’ approach proposed in the bill does not give local authorities the flexibility to do this.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel