Hansard

I very much agree. I was going to come on to that point, and I apologise that I did not do that earlier.

I certainly agree with everything that Stuart McMillan has said about how unacceptable such behaviour is. In 2018 and 2019, Transport Scotland, through its operating companies and the design, build, finance and operate contracts, ran road work safety campaigns that covered the safety of road workers and road works. It also recorded the number of vehicle incursions into sites and the abuse of staff. I was disturbed to hear Stuart McMillan reference that and what the people with whom he has discussed the issue told him.

The campaign was picked up by various media outlets across the industry, but we cannot be complacent, and we obviously need to continue that messaging. In 2020, Transport Scotland will run a campaign highlighting that verbal and physical abuse and any threat to road workers or office-based staff will not be tolerated by this Government. I thank Stuart McMillan for raising that point.

On the other points that have been raised, I think that Dave Stewart mentioned graduated driving licensing twice, and he is quite right to say that it is a reserved matter. I inform those in the chamber that Michael Matheson has recently written to the UK Government to suggest that a pilot of the graduated driving licence could be undertaken in Scotland. We have yet to receive a response from UK ministers—that may be because of the purdah and the general election—but we look forward to receiving one. We are willing to look at such a scheme, and I hope that our request will be positively received.

I thank Stuart McMillan for raising and campaigning on the issue of drug-driving laws, which were introduced as of last week. Those obviously have an impact on the police’s ability to test motorists who have been involved in accidents, stopped for a traffic offence or suspected of drug-driving. I hope that that, too, will help to improve safety.

Gillian Martin, who is no longer in the chamber, raised the issue of young drivers. We can signpost great examples of young driver training programmes, not least Police Scotland’s excellent work in the Borders.

Looking towards 2030, now is a great opportunity for us all to strengthen Scotland’s position as a world leader in road safety. Work on the development of a new framework is well under way, and key stakeholders are heavily involved in the process. We will continue with the award-winning breathtaking roads motorbike safety campaign, and with others such as the country roads campaign, which won a Prince Michael international road safety award. We will continue that kind of public messaging.

If we are to meet challenging targets such as those that have been set by the EU, we need to further strengthen the way that road safety is delivered in this country. We need to keep working in our current partnerships with a real enthusiasm and commitment, and we need to explore new opportunities such as new technology and connected and autonomous vehicles, which may help to improve road safety in the future. We need to embed all pillars of the safe system approach, which I referenced earlier, at national and local level, and we need to be shining examples of evidence-based best practice, making sure that what we do makes a real difference.

We are proud of the work that is going on here in Scotland. I thank Brake and colleagues across the chamber for raising the importance of road safety this week, and for using the debate to highlight the importance of road safety across the whole of Scotland.