Inventor Jim McConkey pioneers safer road crossing after witnessing elderly lady in near accident

Nov 5 2009

A GLASGOW inventor's latest idea could save lives on city streets from "lethal weapon" cars.

Council officials are looking at Jim McConkey's vision for new pedestrian crossings, including catseyes, to help the elderly population and kids who dart across the road.

Jim, 71, said he came up with his idea for crossings when he saw an elderly woman nearly knocked down in Paisley Road West.

Because she had a stoop, she could not see the green man and trusted it was safe after seeing a young boy run across the road.

Luckily, the car stopped in time but Jim decided the city needed something extra beyond the green man.

So he has two plans. The first is for lights shining up green from the ground at crossings, and the second is for catseyes across the road with green lights facing pedestrians rather than drivers. Both would connect to existing traffic signals.

Jim, a caretaker at Berryknowes Resource Centre in Cardonald, said: "I prefer the catseyes option. We have to help the elderly across the road safely. There are too many road accidents and we are not considering the young or elderly.

"There's a lot of support already for these ideas.

"These lights should be everywhere. As far as I'm concerned, it would be quite cheap to do. People are more concerned about the motorist and I'm not concerned about them - drivers are sitting in potentially lethal weapons.

"I'm trying to protect people crossing the road."

Jim added: "This is an ideal time to do this for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"Glasgow can take road safety to a new level." Jim invented the world's first selfextinguishing chip pan in 1999. He has since won the John Logie Baird award for innovation, and appeared on national TV to scoop first prize at the Tomorrow's World Best Inventions awards.

Glasgow City Council roads bosses have already looked at the idea, but warned it could take a long time to get the testing and government approval for Jim's inventions.

Road safety development officer George Cairns said: "Any innovation in road safety is welcome and it is always interesting to see new ideas - particularly when they are being developed on your doorstep."