A road safety campaign is encouraging tourists driving in the Highlands to display “T plates” in a bid to reduce accidents in Scotland.
Although a similar style to the familiar red learner plates and green pass plates, the green “T plates” also have "tourist" written at the bottom and are intended to alert other road users to drivers unfamiliar with Scottish routes.
Earlier this year, Transport Scotland warned of an increase in crashes caused by “inexperience of driving on the left”.
Robert Marshall, a hotel owner from Kingussie, created the plates after a “stressful” driving experience in Tenerife.
He said: “Years ago, during a family trip, I experienced the challenges of being a tourist driver first-hand. It was daunting and often stressful.
“That’s when the idea for T Plate came to me – a symbol to let others know ‘we’re visitors here’. This simple yet effective tool has become my mission to help all travellers feel safer and more comfortable on the road.”
Robert added to BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that he spent the journey “screaming at my partner, 'I wish these people knew I was a tourist’”.
Laura Hanser, a road safety campaigner with the A9 Dual Action Group, has tested the T plates on the roads.
She told STV News that she was “quite stunned” by the impact of driving with the plates on her car.
Rural roads, including the A9 corridor connecting Perth to Inverness, have become hotspots for collisions.
“We took it up and down the A9 on a Friday afternoon with a lot of tourist traffic in the area, and it was totally recognised. People kept their distance,” said Laura.
On its website, the £9.99 “Original Tourist Plate” says it was “crafted for foreign roadways” to “bridge understanding with locals while promoting safety”.
According to the campaign, the T plates are easy to attach and remove, with the flexibility to move from one vehicle to another.
The plates have been declared legal for use by Transport Scotland, reported BBC News.
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