The mother of a young Australian woman, who was knocked down and killed while hitch-hiking on Skye, has blamed her death on the island’s inability to cope with escalating visitor numbers.
Madison (or Maddy) Rice, 21, from Queensland, worked at the Kinloch Lodge Hotel on Skye.
She was trying to thumb a lift home after a night out when the tragedy happened in the early hours of the morning last year near the Sligachan Hotel.
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Her mother, Kerry Shannon, has warned other people may die if the island’s roads and transport links are not dramatically improved to cope with an increasing flood of visitors.
Mrs Shannon, 53, from Queensland, said: “We feel very strongly the lack of tourist facilities on Skye is responsible for my daughter’s death and are very concerned that her death will not be the last one on this beautiful island.
“The roads are not designed for the kind of volume they have to contend with and the island itself doesn’t have the infrastructure needed to cope with the amount of tourism it is attracting.
“How long before someone else is killed?”
Business owners on Skye recently admitted the island was being overwhelmed by its booming popularity as a tourist destination, particularly during the peak summer months.
Maddy, 21, her boyfriend Joe and another friend were trying to make their way back to the Kinloch Lodge on June 6 last year after a night out in another hotel bar.
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After being told no taxis were available and failing to raise any of their friends for a lift, they decided to try to hitch the 23-mile journey.
Mrs Shannon, who visited Skye this summer with her husband and Maddy’s twin brother Harlan on the anniversary of her death, said: “They were stuck with no way to get home and no one to call for help.
“There were no buses, no taxis. They were told flagging down a car was the only thing to do.”
They tried to flag down five cars and an ambulance. The ambulance crew warned them they were putting themselves in danger, but were unable to offer them a lift.
The driver of the car which hit her was a tourist from New Zealand. Mrs Shannon said he was not speeding or driving in any improper way. She added that the accident could easily have been avoided.
