Thirty injured and one dead in crashes on Scotland’s crumbling roads last year

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Thirty people have been injured and one has died in crashes on Scotland’s crumbling roads in the last year.Fresh police figures show there were 21 accidents across the country where defective road surfaces were a factor - with 15 people being seriously hurt and one fatally injured.The figures come after the Record revealed the horror toll of pot hole-related accidents last year - with 15 deaths and more than 700 injuries over the last decade.And despite the number of injuries recorded by Police Scotland falling for a second year running, one driving expert said the country’s roads are worse than ever and motorists are merely becoming more skilled at navigating craters.Neil Greig, Director of Policy and Research at IAM RoadSmart, formerly the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: “This comes against a background of continuing deterioration of Scotland’s roads and a very high awareness, very strong disenchantment and unhappiness at the state of the roads.“I’m surprised pot holes aren’t causing more injury as in terms of drivers’ complaints and feedback we’re getting, the actual state of the roads has not improved.“It does seem people have gotten used to the roads being in a bad state and are compensating for that in their driving.

That is maybe contributing to the reduction in the higher end of crashes.“Meanwhile, the minor thumps and bumps, bust tyres and broken wheels haven’t gone away.

It’s gotten worse.“There is also a historic under reporting from vulnerable road users because they often go straight to the hospital and there is no police involvement.” Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. One fatality was recorded in the north-east of