Misuse of Off-Road Vehicles

As part of an on-going campaing to tackle the misuse of Off-Road Vehciles - such as Quad Bikes - I led a Members Business debate in the Scottish Parliament. During the debate, I welcomed the support from MSPs from other parties. This truly is an issue that impacts people all over Scotland.

As part of this I, along with Councillor Allan Gow, have written to the UK Government given the fact much of what is needed is reserved to Westminster. I hope to work in partnership with the UK Government on this matter.

You can read a copy of our letter here.

You can view coverage from the Glasgow Times at https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/24566080.msps-call-crackdown-dangerous-off-road-e-bikes/

If you would like to be kept updated on this matter, or have any comments do let me know

Debate from the Scottish Parliament

Text of my speech

My thanks go to fellow MSPs whose support has enabled me to bring to the chamber this members’ business debate on tackling the misuse of off-road vehicles.

Increasingly, communities across Maryhill and Springburn are being impacted by the misuse of off-road vehicles—often, but by no means exclusively, quad bikes. They can cause a regular and persistent nuisance on our streets and pavements and in our parks. They can cause fear and alarm, as well as significant damage. Many of us will have witnessed the damage that has been caused to surfaces by off-road vehicles, not least in our parks and grassed areas.

However, it is the human damage and devastation that I want to draw to the attention of MSPs. In doing so, I will speak a little about David Gow. David was killed when he was struck by a quad bike on Balmore Road in February last year. He was 79 years old. David and his family were robbed of celebrating his 80th birthday. The events around David’s killing remain subject to legal proceedings, so I will say no more in that regard.

However, I note that, this evening, we are joined in the public gallery by his son Craig and Craig’s fiancée Donna, as well as David’s brother Allan, his wife Marion and his son Gordon. Allan is a local councillor who represents the area where David lived, and where he was so tragically killed.

A quad bike has taken so much from David and his family. David should have been with his daughter Nicola to celebrate his granddaughter Renatta’s wedding. He missed his grandson Craig’s graduation, his granddaughter Jessica’s 21st, his grandson Cameron’s 18th and his brother Allan’s 60th. David will also miss, later this month, the wedding of Craig and Donna, at which he would have been over the moon to welcome his wee step-granddaughter Myah, whom he adored, formally into the family.

I will say more about David later, but it is important that we never forget the devastation and loss that the misuse of off-road vehicles can cause.

I make it clear that there are many responsible users of off-road vehicles—this is not about demonising any group. There will also be those who do not understand or realise the risks and dangers that are inherent in the inappropriate use of such vehicles. Such riders put not only others but themselves at risk. We must reach out to that group to inform and educate them.

However, I will be blunt. There is a third group: those who, for whatever reason, just do not seem to care. Sometimes, a lone rider can cause nuisance or danger; at other times, they are in larger groups, which can increase the risk to the community’s safety and can also be hugely intimidating.

Councillor Gow and I met Police Scotland, and it was clear from that discussion that a fourth group is emerging: those who use motorised cycles. Those cycles are often adapted to enable them to travel at high speed, and they are often used to scoot about communities in our town and city centres—at times, but not always, servicing deliveries in the so-called gig economy. I know that Police Scotland is increasingly aware of the dangers that inappropriate use of such vehicles can cause.

Our legislation and our enforcement powers are playing catch-up with those growing issues. Police officers have the thankless task of tackling the abuse and misuse of, and the misery that is often caused by, off-road vehicles. Pursuing someone who is driving such a vehicle illegally puts officers, those whom they pursue and the wider public at risk. When off-road vehicles are confiscated, they are often returned to the owner within days of the vehicle being seized. Fines, if they are levied, do not seem to act as a deterrent. The police need greater support.

My colleague Anne McLaughlin was, until recently, the MP for the area where David Gow stayed. Anne introduced a members’ bill to the UK Parliament to require the registration of off-road vehicles, which is a matter that is wholly reserved to Westminster. Anne’s Off-Road Vehicles (Registration) Bill secured strong cross-party support, but, unfortunately, the bill fell following the dissolution of the United Kingdom Parliament.

However, the then UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, Guy Opperman, agreed to establish a task force to look at the wider issues that are caused by off-road vehicles, and he was sympathetic to vehicle registration. I very much hope that we can work together, across parties and across all levels of government, to support progress on tackling the misuse of off-road vehicles. Councillor Gow and I have, therefore, written to Lilian Greenwood MP, the new UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, as we wish to meet her to discuss those matters further.

I was encouraged to see reported in the press comments from the UK Home Secretary about potential action on fines, confiscation powers and the power to destroy certain off-road vehicles. However, there was no mention of potential vehicle registration, which is a key component of helping to identify and confiscate off-road vehicles.

I ask our Scottish Government to ensure that a working group is established on the matter in Scotland. Many aspects of road safety, education, policing and enforcement are devolved. I am sure that Police Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities could be key partners in any working group, along with various other organisations. If there is to be UK legislation, such a group would help to inform the Scottish context in that regard. I ask for that commitment from the Scottish Government this evening.

I want to end by returning to David Gow and his family. David was a son of Possilpark; a talented footballer, which took him to Jersey for a time; and a player for, and captain of, Possil FC for many years. He was a painter to trade and was a husband to Lorna, whom he met at a football dance in St Gregory’s church hall in 1972 and to whom he was devoted until her sad passing in 2014.

David’s son Craig described him as a great family man, a great friend and a great colleague—an extremely intelligent and fiercely independent man, whom Craig was lucky enough to have known in all those capacities.

I very much hope that the debate can provide fresh impetus for Scotland’s Parliament and our Scottish Government to work in partnership to do all that we can to protect our communities from the misuse of off-road vehicles and to protect other families like the Gow family, who have faced such tragedy.