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Two ‘ghost bikes’ for killed cyclists have been placed outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh this morning by campaigners calling for safer roads for cyclists.
The bikes, painted white, represent the deaths of two cyclists in Scotland last week. The campaigners also delivered a pictorial tombstone which details the number of cyclists killed in Scotland since 2009.
Last month, figures were released showing that the number of cyclists killed on Scotland’s roads last year had risen, from seven in 2011 to nine in 2012 and looks set to rise again even more in 2013. This year, there have already been eight deaths, including 14-year-old Connor Shields and 79-year-old Douglas Brown.
The Scottish Government has rejected calls made by Pedal on Parliament, public health experts and MSPs to increase the amount spent on cycling infrastructure to £20 per head.
Activist Andy Arthur said: "It is the political leadership in Holyrood who have the power and the budgets to do something about the safety of cycling, yet they seem to lack political will. By leaving the memorial in full view of Parliament we hope it will stir some our elected representatives to action, or else shame them for their inaction."
Sara Dorman, one of the organisers of Pedal on Parliament, said "Only two months ago 4,000 people pedalled on the Scottish Parliament to ask for £100 million a year to make Scotland’s roads safer for everyone. Despite the government finding £3 billion to dual the A9. It seems that there’s no sum too large to make the roads safer for driving, but when it comes to the safety of people on bikes, even children, then even the smallest sum is begrudged."
