Road safety charity backs Road Share’s campaign for presumed liability

Road safety charity BRAKE has announced it is backing the campaign calling for the introduction of presumed liability for Scotland’s less vulnerable road users.

BRAKE has pledged its support to Road Share, which is making the case for a change in the law to protect walkers and cyclists.

It proposes the introduction of presumed liability for motorists in collisions with cyclists and pedestrians.

The charity’s endorsement of the campaign follows the publication of research which found that countries with high levels of walking and cycling and low casualty rates have some form of presumed liability legislation and there is a clear and strong association between presumed liability and higher levels of safe walking and cycling.

Gary Rae of BRAKE said: “Studies of our own have shown that too many drivers do not concentrate at the wheel, often flouting road safety.

“All too tragically, there are consequences to this, especially for the more vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

“A simple, and ultimately very fair and reasonable change to our civil law, would constitute a big step forward to changing attitudes on the road and would clearly show that, as a nation, we consider road safety a priority.”

A system of presumed liability would mean that following a collision between a motorist and a cyclist or pedestrian, the motorist, via their insurer, would be presumed to be liable for injury, damages or loss, unless they can demonstrate otherwise.

The system would see the less vulnerable user requiring to discharge the burden of proof.

As such, it would mean that a cyclist would be presumed liable in a collision with a pedestrian.

For the most vulnerable road users, Road Share Campaign is proposing strict liability, so that adults aged over 70, children aged under 14 and the disabled receive full compensation regardless of fault.