Cole-Hamilton: We should empower communities to help tackle antisocial driving

Speaking at COSLA’s annual conference today, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP highlighted the idea of giving councils the power to install and operate speed cameras in their areas so that communities are empowered to help tackle antisocial driving.

It comes as Mr Cole-Hamilton called on the First Minister and the Scottish Government to address racing and antisocial driving across the country, after chairing a community meeting in South Queensferry where residents discussed the prevalence of the issue.

Commenting on the proposals, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

“Up and down the country, people are having their quality of life destroyed by hundreds of high performance, illegally modified cars and motorbikes racing around their beautiful towns.

“Hotels have lost trade, pets have been killed, nobody is getting any sleep. Communities feel helpless, like they have no other option than to put up with this racing and antisocial behaviour.

“I believe that we can help tackle this criminal behaviour by giving councils the power over speed cameras in their areas, enabling them to install the cameras in known hotspots. With these powers, councils could also use the revenues from speeding fines to support residents and the wider community.

“This already happens in English local authorities and the Scottish Parliament has the power to allow Scottish councils to do the same.  

“Communities know their areas best, which is why they should be empowered to deploy local solutions to local problems.”