The Scottish Government

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THEME 1 WHAT SHOULD OUR PRIORITIES BE?

Although overall casualty figures have fallen significantly in the period covered by the GB road safety strategy, progress has been slow in certain areas, while some new problems have also emerged.

Main areas of concern include rural roads, where seven out of ten fatal accidents occur; young drivers, particularly male, who are disproportionately represented in road accidents; and drink-driving, which is a factor in one in nine fatal accidents.

Problem areas are highlighted by the following statistics in Road Accidents Scotland ( RAS).

• Seven out of ten fatal accidents occur on non built-up roads ( RAS 2006, Table 5)
• The latest five-year average of the estimated numbers of injury drink-drive accidents is 750, compared with 770 in 1994-98 ( RAS 2006, Table 22) and the estimated number of people killed in drink-drive accidents is around one in nine
• In 2006, the number of fatal and serious motorcyclist casualties was 15% higher than the average for 1994-98 ( RAS 2006, Table 26), although fatal and serious accident rates have fallen ( RAS 2006, Table 13)
• Accident involvement as a car driver is highest for males aged 17-22 years and lowest for females over 60 years ( RAS 2006, Table 18)
• In general, the risk of injury for males is significantly higher than for females ( RAS 2006, Table 31)
• Pedestrians account for about one-fifth of road deaths ( RAS 2006, Table 23)
• One in five child casualties are injured on journeys to or from school ( RAS 2006, Table 44)

Research aimed at gaining further insight into road safety issues is an essential tool in the development and evaluation of road safety initiatives. The Scottish Government has published research on a number of topics over the last few years. Road Safety Scotland ( RSS) education and publicity initiatives are informed by research to ensure that appropriate messages are targeted at relevant groups using the most appropriate media. They are also evaluated to ensure that they are effective. Among the findings from such studies are:

• Young male drivers are most likely to drive at excessive speed ( Rural Road Safety - A Literature Review, Kevin Hamilton and Janet Kennedy, TRL Limited, 2005)
• The main types of accidents on rural roads are head-on collisions, running off the road and accidents at junctions. Speeding, drink and drug driving, fatigue and distraction are the main driver behaviour factors involved ( Rural Road Safety - A Literature Review, Kevin Hamilton and Janet Kennedy, TRL Limited, 2005)
• Between 25% and 30% of fatal casualties in Great Britain are likely to be work-related ( Managing Occupational Road Risk: The Next Steps…., RoSPA, 2002)
• It is estimated that up to 11% of drivers aged 17-39 years may have driven after using illicit drugs and up to 6% may have done so within the last 12 months ( Illicit Drugs and Driving, MORI Scotland, University of Glasgow, Napier University, 2006)
• Amongst pre-drivers aged 14-17 years, speeding is regarded as acceptable, especially on rural roads, and males from lower socio-economic groups are more accepting of drink-driving than other groups ( Young Pre-Driver Qualitative Research Report, TNS System Three, 2007)
• The risk of death for child pedestrians is highly class-related, with children in the lowest socio-economic group more than four times likely to be killed as pedestrians than those in the highest socio-economic group ( Road Accidents and Children Living in Disadvantaged Areas, David White, Robert Raeside and Derek Barker, Napier University, 2000)
• There are an estimated 74 injury accidents involving deer each year in Scotland ( National Deer-Vehicle Collisions Project Scotland (2003-2005), J Langbein and RJ Putman, 2006)
• Many motorcyclists are aware of, but not deterred by, the risks associated with motorcycling ( Risk and Motorcycling in Scotland, Barry Sexton, Kevin Hamilton and Chris Baughan, TRL Limited, Stephen Stradling and Paul Broughton, TRi Napier University, 2006)

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