This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Road Accidents Scotland 2005
24/11/2006
Road Accidents Scotland 2005, published today, provides statistics for road accidents and casualties and, for the first time, on factors which may have caused accidents.
Maind findings are:
Road casualties
- 286 deaths on Scotland's roads in 2005 - 7 per cent fewer than in 2004, and the lowest figure for more than 50 years
- between 1995 and 2005, the number of road deaths fell by 30 per cent, from 409 to 286
- 2,652 people reported as seriously injured in 2005 - 4 per cent fewer than in 2004, and the lowest number since the current series began in 1950
- between 1995 and 2005, killed and seriously injured casualties (combined) fell by 45 per cent, from 5,339 to 2,938
- a total of 17,821 reported casualties (including deaths and "slight" injuries) in 2005 - 3 per cent fewer than in 2004 and the lowest figure since 1952
- between 1995 and 2005, the total number of reported casualties fell by 20 per cent, from 22,194 to 17,821
Child casualties
- 368 children killed or seriously injured in 2005, of whom 11 died (1 fewer than in 2004)
- 2,166 child casualties, 10 per cent fewer than in 2004
- between 1995 and 2005, child casualties fell by 45 per cent, from 3,935 to 2,166
Types of transport used
- 10,955 car user casualties in 2005, 5 per cent fewer than in 2004 and 16 per cent below the 1995 level
- 3,033 pedestrian casualties in 2005, 1 per cent fewer than in 2004 but 35 per cent below the 1995 level
- 1,082 motorcyclist casualties in 2005, 10 per cent more than in 2004 and 11 per cent more than the 1995 level
- 780 pedal cyclist casualties in 2005, 1 per cent more than in 2004 but 41 per cent below the 1995 level
- young male drivers are the most likely to be involved in road accidents - in 2005, the number of car drivers involved in accidents represented 4.0 per thousand of the population aged 17 and over, but 9.4 per thousand of the total population for men aged 17-22
Types of road
- 72 per cent of all road deaths (207 out of 286) in 2005 occurred on "non-built up" roads ("non built-up" roads are those which have a speed limit of more than 40 mph)
- 53% of people who were killed or seriously injured (1,545 out of 2,938) were involved in accidents on non built-up roads
- relative to the total volume of traffic, Motorways have the lowest accident rates. Fatal accident rates tend to be highest for non built-up A and B roads, but overall accident rates (including "slight injury" accidents) tend to be highest for built-up B, C and unclassified roads
Progress towards the road casualty reduction targets for 2010
Compared with the "baseline" averages for 1994-98, in 2005:
- 39 per cent fewer people were reported as killed or seriously injured - so, on the basis of these figures, the target of a fall of 40 per cent by 2010 has almost been achieved
- 56 per cent fewer children were reported as killed or seriously injured - so the target of a 50 per cent reduction by 2010 has been achieved
- the slight casualty rate (per 100 million vehicle kilometres) was 25 per cent lower, so the target of a 10 per cent reduction has been achieved
Drink-driving
- about 1,060 casualties in drink-drive accidents in 2004 (the latest year for which an estimate is available), 9 per cent fewer than in 1994, around 40 of whom died
- in 2005, 3.7 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
Comparison with England and Wales
- in 2005, Scotland's casualty rates were 3 per cent higher (killed), 5 per cent higher (killed and serious) and 26 per cent lower (all severities)
- in all three cases, this represented an improvement in Scotland's relative position compared with the 1994-98 averages
Comparison with countries in Western Europe and elsewhere
Using figures for 2004 (the latest year for which they are available):
- Scotland's overall road death rate of 60 per million population was the fifth lowest of the 31 countries for which figures are available
- Scotland's pedestrian fatality rate of 15 per million population was the eighteenth lowest (of 31 countries)
- Scotland's child fatality rate of 13 per million population was the sixth lowest (of 28 countries for which figures are available)
- Scotland's fatality rate for people aged 65+ was 83 per million population, the fifth lowest (of 28 countries)
Contributory Factors
driver/rider failed to look properly - 21 per cent of all accidents for which Contributory Factors were recorded
loss of control - 16 per cent
driver/rider failed to judge other person's path/speed - 15 per cent
slippery road (due to weather) - 12 per cent
driver/rider careless / reckless / in a hurry - 12 per cent
pedestrian failed to look properly - per cent
travelling too fast for the conditions - 10 per cent
Contributory Factors most often reported for fatal accidents were:
- loss of control - 36 per cent of all fatal accidents for which Contributory Factors were recorded
- driver/rider careless / reckless / in a hurry - 20 per cent
- driver/rider failed to look properly - 19 per cent
- travelling too fast for the conditions - 17 per cent
- exceeding speed limit - 10 per cent
- pedestrian failed to look properly - 10 per cent
Vehicles, road traffic and accidents
- between 1995 and 2005, vehicle numbers increased by almost a third from 1.91 million to 2.53 million
- the total volume of traffic on all roads increased by 16 per cent from 36.7 billion vehicle kilometres in 1995 to 42.7 billion in 2005
- 13,397 reported injury accidents in 2005 - 4 per cent fewer than in 2004 and the lowest number since recording of the numbers of injury accidents began in 1966
- 264 fatal accidents - 6 per cent fewer than in 2004 (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)