This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Road Accidents Scotland 2004
30/01/2006
Statistics for road accidents and casualties in 2004 in Scotland were published today.
Figures are compared with the average levels for 1994-1998, which is the "baseline" period for the Scottish Executive road safety targets for the year 2010. Scottish figures are also compared with those for England and Wales, and about 30 countries in Western Europe and elsewhere.
On Scotland's roads in 2004 there were:
- 18,405 casualties in total - 2 per cent fewer than in 2003 and the lowest figure since 1953;
- 13,855 injury accidents - 0.3 per cent fewer than in 2003 and the lowest number since recording of the numbers of injury accidents began in 1966;
- 2,742 people seriously injured - 7 per cent fewer than in 2003, and the lowest number since the current records of serious injuries began in 1950;
- 15,357 "slight" casualties, 1 per cent below the previous year's number, and the lowest figure since 1955;
- 281 fatal accidents - 6 per cent fewer than in 2003 (more than one person may die as the result of one fatal accident - e.g. if the drivers of both cars involved in an accident die, that is one fatal accident and two deaths).
- 306 deaths - 8 per cent fewer than in the previous year, and the second lowest figure for more than 50 years;
- 383 children killed or seriously injured, of whom 12 died (5 fewer than in 2003).
- 2,389 child casualties, 4 per cent fewer than in 2003;
Between 1994 and 2004:
- vehicle numbers increased by over a quarter from 1.90 million to 2.45 million;
- the number of road deaths fell by 16 per cent, from 363 to 306;
- killed and seriously injured casualties (combined) fell by 45 per cent, from 5,571 to 3,048;
- the total number of casualties fell by 18 per cent, from 22,573 to 18,405;
- child casualties fell by 43 per cent, from 4,163 to 2,389.
Compared with the 1994-98 averages, in 2004:
- 37 per cent fewer people were killed or seriously injured. The reduction so far has been greater than would be needed to achieve the Scottish Executive target of a fall of 40 per cent by 2010, by means of a constant annual percentage reduction;
- 55 per cent fewer children were killed or seriously injured, therefore the Scottish Executive target of a 50 per cent reduction by 2010 has been achieved;
- the slight casualty rate (per 100 million vehicle kilometres) was 23 per cent lower, so the 2010 Scottish Executive target of a 10 per cent reduction has been achieved.
Other notable statistics include:
- 11,549 car user casualties in 2004, 2 per cent fewer than in 2003 and 14 per cent below the 1994-98 average level;
- there were 3,063 pedestrian casualties in 2004, 3 per cent more than in 2003 but 30 per cent below the 1994-98 average level;
- about 1,130 casualties in drink-drive accidents in 2003 (the latest year for which an estimate is available), 12 per cent fewer than in 1993, around 50 of whom died;
- in 2004, the number of car drivers involved in accidents was 4.2 per thousand of the population aged 17 and over, but 9.6 per thousand population for males aged 17-22;
- in 2004, 3.5 per cent of drivers involved in injury accidents who were asked for a breath test registered a positive reading or refused to take the test;
- the total volume of traffic on all roads increased by 19 per cent from 36.0 billion vehicle kilometres in 1994 to 42.7 billion in 2004.
Compared with England and Wales, in 2004:
- Scotland's casualty rates were 10 per cent higher (killed), 2 per cent higher (killed and serious) and 27 per cent lower (all severities):
- in all three cases, this represented an improvement in Scotland's relative position compared with the 1994-98 averages;
- Scotland's child casualty rates per head of population were 14 per cent lower (killed), 20 per cent higher (killed and serious) and 8 per cent lower (all severities) than those of England & Wales (NB: the percentage for "killed" can vary markedly from year to year, due to the number of child deaths in Scotland fluctuating between - e.g. - 12 and 21 in the latest five years);
- in all three cases, this represented an improvement in Scotland's position compared with the 1994-98 averages.
Comparing 31 countries in Western Europe and elsewhere, using figures for 2003 (the latest year for which they are available):
- Scotland's overall road death rate of 65 per million population was the seventh lowest;
- Scotland's pedestrian fatality rate of 12 per million population was the twelfth lowest.
- Scotland's child fatality rate of 15 per million population was the sixth lowest;
- Scotland's fatality rate for people aged 65+ was 71 per million population, the second lowest of all of the countries involved in the comparison.
Fatality rates by age-group are available for 29 countries.
Provisional figures for road accidents in 2004 were published in June 2005. This publication includes the final figures with a more detailed breakdown.
Road Accidents Scotland 2004 costs £10 and may be purchased from Blackwell's Bookshop, 53 South Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1YS.
Copies of the publication are available on the internet: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/transtat/ras
On March 1, 2000, the UK Government, the Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales announced a new road safety strategy and casualty reduction targets for 2010. The new targets, which were given in the document Tomorrow's roads - safer for everyone, are based on the annual average casualty levels over the period 1994 to 1998, and are for:
- a 40 per cent reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents;
- a 50 per cent reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured; and
- a 10 per cent reduction in the slight casualty rate, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.
Progress towards these targets is shown in a section in Road Accidents Scotland 2004. The relevant casualty figures are compared with indicative target lines which start at the level of the "baseline" averages in 1996 (because that is the year in the middle of the baseline period) and fall, by a constant percentage each year, to the target reduction by the year 2010.