Make pedestrians wear hi-vis vests to curb road deaths, say police

POLICE have advised pedestrians and children to wear high-visibility vests while walking, in what campaigners have called an “admission of failure” in tackling dangerous driving.

After six pedestrians in 13 days were killed in Scotland after being hit by vehicles, Police Scotland have urged pedestrians to wear “reflective or fluorescent” clothing.

Ch Insp Lorraine Napier said: “Pedestrians are considered vulnerable road users and, in winter, particularly when it is dark, pedestrians should wear reflective or fluorescent clothing.”

Campaigners likened the appeal to “victim blaming” rather than tackling the direct cause of accidents. Playing Out, a resident-led campaign to restore children’s freedom to play outside, said more should be done to reduce vehicle speeds. Alice Ferguson, co-director of the campaign, said that requiring children to wear hi-vis clothing “would be an admission of failure to create a reasonably safe environment”.

The group said 16 children are killed or seriously injured every week on their way to or from school and that even in 2020, when traffic was vastly reduced owing to the pandemic, 31 children in the UK were killed and 1,362 seriously injured while on foot or cycling.

Karen McDonnell, head of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in Scotland, said: “Each of us has a role to play in keeping people safe on our roads, however those with greater power have greater responsibility and should use it wisely, it saves lives.”

Police Scotland issued its appeal after a spate of accidents in January and February. These included the deaths of a 79-year-old man who was hit by a bus on Edinburgh’s Haymarket Terrace, a 64-year-old man who was struck by a car while walking his dog in Glasgow and a 75-year-old man who was struck by a Land Rover Discovery in Hamilton.

In the same period, Chinenye Vera Okonkwo, 33, was killed after a twovehicle crash and John Stanley Lewis, 42, died after being hit by a car on the A9 in Perth. Ms Napier said: “Everyone using our roads needs to be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others around them.”