Road workers get bodycams after abuse from drivers

Road maintenance workers in Scotland are being given bodycams and alarms amid complaints of being hit with bottles of urine by abusive drivers.

It is hoped the new surveillance equipment will deter acts of aggression and provide evidence of crimes should incidents come to court.

Road workers can be at risk of injury and at times death when unauthorised vehicles drive into their work areas, the highways operator Bear Scotland said.

Just this year, a 59-year-old road worker was killed after he was hit by a car on a grass verge in Dumbarton.

Research has found that three quarters of Bear Scotland workers have seen vehicles jump red lights at work areas while 13 per cent had objects thrown at them from passing vehicles.

Neil Greig, the director of policy and research at the road safety charity IAM Road Smart, said there was “no excuse” for drivers abusing workers. “It’s sad it’s come to this, there’s no doubt about it. Unfortunately, I’m not surprised. Because this has been a growing trend over many years.”

In the past 12 months Bear Scotland has reported to the police 18 cases of incursions onto worksites — 12 of which were charged, including a drunk driver and a driver who was high on cocaine.

Duncan Crilley, an operation supervisor at Bear Scotland, said: “Drivers get abusive. They shout and swear. They throw objects at us. I have been hit by a bottle of urine before. I am thankful it wasn’t open. It caught my back and it hurt. I have also been in a digger when somebody threw an apple at me. It smashed the digger’s side window.”

Sandra Wilson, Bear’s health, safety, and risk manager, said that the new measures — which include bodycams, CCTV vehicles on site, body cams and incursion alarms — should help to protect workers and deter drivers from taking risks and “playing Russian roulette” with workers’ lives.