The Scottish Government has commenced a consultation on making the speed limit on single carriageway roads 50mph rather than the current 60mph.

These proposals were launched with the usual solemn statement that “we must remember that one death on our roads is one too many”. Cue everybody looking serious and sad as they are supposed to.

The whole thing is utter nonsense. The proposal is stupid and the “one is one too many” mantra is crass emotional manipulation.

Before I am screamed at for being heartless be aware that my own father was killed in a car accident when I was young. I am acutely aware of the devastation an untimely death can have on a family. Emotions are, however, not what should guide Government policy; Governments need to deal with facts, with competing priorities and the widest good.

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Scotland's road deaths 'unacceptable' as watchdog questions policing

Road fatalities in Scotland peaked at 900 in 1969. In 2023, the figure was 155 (of which incidentally 26 were on motorcycles). Of that figure of 155, 100 of the fatalities were on roads where the speed limit was more than 40, in other words on roads governed by the national speed limit of 60mph or on motorways where the limit is 70mph.

We are talking about trying to prevent annual fatalities of less than 100.

How does that figure of 100 strike you? It strikes me, given the enormous number of miles we travel, as remarkably low. This is a triumph and has been achieved with no change to the national........

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