Glasgow councillor calls for action to make streets safer from off-road vehicles after brother hit by motorbike

A Glasgow councillor whose brother died after being hit by an off-road motorbike is pushing for action to make the city’s streets safer.

David Gow, 79, died in February last year following a collision on Balmore Road. Since then, his son Craig has been campaigning for tighter controls on off-road vehicles.

Now, his brother Allan, an SNP councillor for the city’s Canal ward, is urging Glasgow City Council to commit to working with both governments on the issue.

One proposal is to change the law to require registration of off-road vehicles which could help with “policing, identification and enforcement”.

“There will be other fatalities, there will be other accidents,” Cllr Gow said, adding the victims are not just those who are struck by vehicles.

“Victims are often those riding the bikes. Their families are every bit as devastated. There’s a problem here.”

As well as off-road motorbikes and quad bikes, his motion covers e-bikes and e-scooters, which police officers have told him can be “too powerful”.

While e-bikes with low power batteries are legal, a “souped-up” battery can be bought online, Cllr Gow said.

He added David’s son Craig has been “pushing politicians to see what can be done around off-road vehicles”.

Former Glasgow North East MP Anne McLaughlin received cross-party support for a bill which would have made owners need to register their vehicles.

The then UK Parliamentary under-secretary of state for transport had agreed to set up a task force to look at the issues caused by off-road vehicles.

But Cllr Gow said that commitment had fallen through with the change of government at Westminster. He added there have been talks with the new MP for Glasgow North, Martin Rhodes, who is “very keen to work with us”.

Bob Doris MSP has also led a member’s debate at Holyrood on the subject, with the Scottish Government planning to establish a working group including Police Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

The motion asks Glasgow councillors to agree the council should join the group and do “what it can to assist in reducing the harms to communities and families”.

While any law change is reserved to Westminster, Cllr Gow said the Holyrood group would look at what options were available in Scotland and could at least produce a “shopping list” for the UK Government to consider.

His motion states there are “significant public safety issues regarding the misuse of off-road vehicles, including motorbikes, quad bikes, e-scooters and e-bikes”, which are “being used dangerously, inappropriately and often illegally on roads, footpaths and various open spaces”.

It adds this poses a “serious risk of injury and risk to life for those driving such vehicles, as well as others within the community” and can also lead to “nuisance, anti-social behaviour and damage”.

Cllr Gow said rural voices must also be considered during the debate so it isn’t just “city boys and girls changing the law and making their lives more difficult”.

Two men have been arrested and charged over the crash that killed David Gow.

Speaking in the House of Commons earlier this year, Ms McLaughlin said he had been described as “a devoted family man, a loyal friend and a fiercely independent and extremely intelligent man” by his son, Craig.