040425 S77 FFA ENCROACH BEYOND ASL

Glasgow, United Kingdom

4 Apr, 2025 - 1 year ago - on Mearnswood Place
📍 Mearns Cross, A77 – Grey Mercedes (Reg: S77 FFA) Encroaching into Bike Box 🚫

Date: 04042025
Time: 9am
Vehicle: Grey Mercedes
Location: ASL (Advanced Stop Line) at Mearns Cross, A77 heading south
Video Evidence: [Attached]

This morning at Mearns Cross, I witnessed yet another bike box violation—a grey Mercedes (reg: S77 FFA) rolled past the Advanced Stop Line, occupying space legally designated for cyclists. Although there was no physical contact and the driver did not turn left across my path, the danger was real.

Bike boxes exist to prevent collisions, particularly the lethal kind that can happen when large vehicles turn left across cyclists. When drivers ignore this space, they compromise our visibility and safety. And in Scotland, these infractions are consistently overlooked by enforcement—even when caught on video.

🚨 Let’s not wait for another tragedy
Let us not forget Emma Burke Newman—a 22-year-old French-American architecture student killed in Glasgow in 2023. Emma was cycling into an ASL when a tipper truck and a bus encroached into the box. She was crushed. The driver was convicted. The city mourned.

But what has changed since then?

Not enough.

🛑 What Needs to Change in Scotland
🚫 ASL Enforcement: Police Scotland must treat ASL encroachment as a real traffic offense—not just a technicality. It’s a matter of life and death.

⚖️ Legal Reform: Scottish law currently demands corroboration (two sources of evidence) even when video footage clearly shows a vehicle violating a cyclist’s space. This outdated rule must be modernised.

📹 Public Reporting Portal: Scotland needs a dedicated platform, like those in England and Wales, where cyclists can submit video footage and expect real follow-up—not silence.

📏 Clear Legal Passing Distances: Set and enforce a minimum legal passing distance—1.5m at low speed, 2.0m at higher speed—backed by law, not vague guidance.

👮 Training for Police and Prosecutors: Law enforcement must be equipped and willing to understand cycling dynamics, ASL laws, and the real-world risks cyclists face daily.

🧠 Remember Emma. Protect others.
Encroaching into a bike box might seem minor to some. It isn’t. It’s a predictable, preventable risk that already cost one young woman her life. Don’t let complacency or legal inertia put more lives at risk.

If we wait until the next funeral to act, we’ve failed.

#Upride #BikeBoxViolation #EmmaBurkeNewman #CycleSafeScotland #VisionZero #PoliceScotland #JusticeForCyclists #ClosePass #ASLMatters.

Incident location

1 Mearnswood Place, Newton Mearns, Glasgow, G77 6BF, United Kingdom

Incident details

Date of incident: 04/04/2025 09:00AM
Incident type: Close call
Location of incident: Mearnswood Place, Newton Mearns, Glasgow, G77 6BF, United Kingdom