Safety

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that safety in Scotland revolves around mountain rescue - there are some very important safety tips you should bear in mind when visiting Scotland:

Roads

Here’s a couple of important safety tips for driving on Scottish roads:

1. When the road ahead is clear, always drive with your side-headlights on. Even when it’s sunny.

I never paid so much attention to this in Central Scotland, but since arriving in the Highlands I feel I have to do this all the time to remain safe.

This is because Scottish drivers are some of the worst drivers in the world - many seem to think that blind spots on roads are perfectly reasonable places to over-take slower traffic.

By having your side-headlights on, you significantly increase the changes of being spotted from a much further distance. Making it increasingly likely those impatient Scottish drivers will see you long before they commit to an over-taking decision.

Sunny days and brightly-coloured cars are no excuse - seriously, if you’ve no traffic in front, you need to do this.

2. Allow traffic to over-take

If you find yourself creating a tailback of traffic behind you, allow other traffic to over-take.

Sounds simple, but because many of Scotland’s main roads are single carriageway (even single-track), and can do so for tens of miles, you can seriously annoy the drivers behind you - to such an extent that they take dangerous risks just to get past, increasing the potential for accidents.

So if you find yourself creating a traffic jam behind you, watch out for opportunities to allow traffic to pass - keep far to the left of the road, and when you reach a clear straight stretch, indicate left and slow slightly - ie, from 50mph to 40mph - to help the backlogie of traffic get past you.

3. Keep your cool.

Always try and keep your cool on the roads. Losing your head can lead to unsafe driving decisions.

And Scotland’s roads offer many opportunities to tempt you.

It’s not enough that many of Scotland’s roads are a danger to the conscientious driver in themselves - it’s worse that many of the drivers on Scotland’s roads are lunatics and a potential danger to you.

Firstly, there’s the standard fare of bad drivers - hesitant women drivers who won’t pull out of junctions, and stupid old men who think 30mph is the safest speed on a 60mph road.

Secondly, you have the tourists. Some don’t seem to realise that speed limits are in imperial mph, so they drive in the metric equivalent - leaving them driving like stupid old men. Also, there are the caravan-pullers who seem to take great glee in blocking up entire roads with slow driving.

Thirdly, you have the damn Scots, who can make incredibly impatient drivers, and many of whom seem to think that blind corners and summits are perfectly reasonable places to over-take. And then there are the drunk drivers - you can spot them driving 40mph on 60mph roads, driving from side to side and slamming on the brakes at every slight corner. You might think I’m kidding, but I’m not.

So if you find yourself in situations where you feel your patience is being tempted - try to count to ten. Count ten gunshots if it helps. But don’t risk ruining your experiencing of Scotland with a roadcrash.

With slow and drunk drivers, always remain a safe distance behind them, and always watch out for cars suddenly pulling out - not simply in front of you, but also over-taking you unexpectedly.

Insect bites

The West coast of Scotland, and inland Highland areas, are a haven to little black midges who swarm out on cool dusky evenings.

They are very small, but their bites can

The Dangers

Safety Tips