Road Safety Q&A with Transport Scotland
The North Coast 500 takes in 516 miles of stunning scenery along some of the North Highlands’ most rural roads. While travelling on the NC500, you’re sharing the road with locals as well as visitors, and it’s incredibly important that everyone drives and rides responsibly. Read on to hear Transport Scotland’s top tips on road safety.
Collisions on Scotland’s roads continue to be a major cause of concern, with an average of three people dying and 38 seriously injured every week in Scotland. Every one of these has a number of contributory factors and almost all are preventable. While police and government, engineers and designers can do a significant amount to try and prevent them, the real responsibility lies with individual road users and that is the key to continued success in reducing casualties.
With the boom in staycation holidays this summer, Scotland’s roads will be busier than ever. Road Safety Scotland’s ‘Listen to the locals’ campaign encourages people to plan ahead and gives a flavour of what drivers can expect when driving in our beautiful country with friendly advice from those who know best.
We caught up with Michael McDonnell, Director of Road Safety Scotland, which is the branch within Transport Scotland responsible for road safety learning resources and publicity activity. He has worked in road safety for over 32 years and has all the tips you need to know before setting out safely on the NC500. We asked him a few questions:
- What are the major safety concerns for drivers on NC500? Any instances or situations that cause safety hazards?
The NC500 isn’t too different from many roads in Scotland, however it’s popularity with visitors means it sees a real mix of road users, including everything from pedestrians to cyclists, buses, campervans, farm vehicles and heavy goods vehicles. That mix compounded with familiarity (locals) and unfamiliarity (visitors) can lead to collisions if extra care is not taken.
- What is the advice we want to give to visitors on how to plan a safe trip when driving along the route? How important is planning their route in advance?
The importance of planning ahead cannot be overstated – it is absolutely vital to the successful and safe completion of all journeys. Making the journey part of the holiday underpins all other aspects of planning a safe trip. Otherwise, we start to place deadlines on ourselves and, even if not consciously doing so, we try to meet them; and if that means making up for lost time, then we take more risks – we can’t help ourselves! We need to set realistic milestones on the journey and be aware that due to the nature of the roads it may take longer than planned to reach your next stop. Build in time for elective and/or enforced stops, traffic levels, road conditions, and never put pressure on yourself (as a driver) or pressurise the driver (as a passenger) to do anything which puts anyone at risk. Take your time, enjoy the scenery, and complete the journey safely.
- What makes Scottish roads more challenging?
Scotland’s roads are no more challenging than roads in lots of other parts of the UK. Those who are not experienced with quiet, rural roads however may find traveling on single track roads a challenge. There is a number of single-track roads along the NC500 route, which have a series of passing places in order to facilitate safe passing and overtaking. It’s important to use these in both instances. If you encounter another vehicle, then stop at the passing place where the road widens to allow oncoming vehicles to pass, or trailing vehicles to overtake if appropriate. The weather adds another dimension too; it’s important to tune into local news for updates on the weather, road conditions and any ongoing incidents which may affect your journey and/or your safety.
- Any major distractions or unexpected obstacles to be aware of while driving the route? How could they pose a safety threat and how do we avoid them?
Always bear in mind there will be a variety of road users travelling the NC500 route, so keeping a lookout for other road users (especially more vulnerable ones) is critical. The breath-taking views often mean people will be tempted to stop to admire them. Please remember however you should only stop when safe to do so and in designated parking areas – passing places are not parking places. As drivers, we need to be able to resist the temptation to take in these views while driving. The nature of some parts of the North Highlands’ road network requires all concentration on the task in hand to get ourselves and any passengers safely to the destination. There are also many places where animals will use the road so we need to be conscious of that possibility too. Rule 126 of The Highway Code states ‘drive your vehicle at a speed that will allow you to stop well within the distance you can see to be clear’ – that’s probably one of the most important pieces of guidance within the Code, and perhaps the one least observed.
- What are the dangers of driving tired/fatigued and what tips would you give the drivers to overcome them?
Fatigue can often be a hidden cause of road incidents as it can be difficult to confirm but The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) estimates it is a factor in up to 20% of collisions. There is no ‘fairy-dust’ solution here. Proper planning, sufficient rest and sharing the driving where possible are important, as is recognising the symptoms of fatigue and stopping for a nap or coffee.
- What are the major concerns regarding speed, overtaking etc.? How can a driver be more careful and any tips you’d suggest for a safer trip?
Speeding is endemic unfortunately and almost all collisions – especially the more serious ones – have an element of speeding in them. There are two categories: excessive and inappropriate. It isn’t just about those who are travelling far too fast; it’s also about those going at the wrong speed for the conditions and not considering fellow road users or animals. Overtaking isn’t always an option on some of our roads as they are narrow and twisty in nature. That combined with natural vegetation means we don’t always have a sufficiently clear view of the road ahead to complete the manoeuvre safely. Cornering is another important factor and I would encourage people to be over-cautious rather than over-confident.
There will be times you need to drive under the national speed limit in order to stay safe. In fact most people do so on these roads – the average free flow speed is 48mph. Remember – the North Coast 500 is not a racetrack.
If you are travelling at or below the speed limit, please allow traffic behind you to overtake safely. If you are on single track roads, stop at passing places where the road widens to allow drivers behind to pass.
- How does one drive safely in bad weather? Any tips to help the drivers along the route?
Scotland is a country where we quite often get ‘four seasons in one day’ and driving in bad weather is really just common sense. Due to limitations the performance of both the car and the driver are affected and mitigations must be put in place to deal with that. Keeping up-to-date with weather conditions, planning journeys carefully, making sure you and your vehicle are fit for the journey and building in time for contingencies are essential to this.
- What are the major safety guidelines for campervans, motorbikes and other vulnerable road users? Anything to always keep in mind and be mindful about?
The road users mentioned here really demonstrate the diversity of traffic on the route, and why we can’t just think in our own little box. We have to consider what others are having to do to negotiate narrow lanes, tight bends or twisting roads. For example, a campervan needs more room to manoeuvre and the driver may have hired it so might be unfamiliar with the dimensions and controls. It is important that those driving a motorhome feel comfortable reversing correctly and safely as you may be required to do so on single track roads. It only takes ONE person who is not used to driving a large vehicle to block the road completely for many other road users, including those who use the road for work and importantly emergency vehicles. More vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, cyclists and bikers can be obscured or camouflaged by other traffic and surroundings so extra care is required at all times.
- Is there more information available about road safety? Where can readers and planners go to get more information?
There are many sources in information available online where you can get general road safety advice, such as www.RoSPA.com and www.roadsafety.scot, and there will also be more information available locally. The importance of planning ahead cannot be over-emphasised.
