Road Safety
Making the roads safer for all road users is a key priority. The Scottish Government is working in partnership with local authorities, the police and other organisations with in an interest in road safety in order to bring down casualty numbers.
In 2007, 281 people were killed and a further 15,932 people were injured on Scotland's roads.
You can view the Government's latest published annual statistics on road accidents and casualties in the Road Casualties Scotland 2007 publication:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/03/20124132/0
Casualty Reductions Targets and Strategy
In 2000, the Scottish Government set targets for reductions in road casualties in the period to 2010. Compared with the average for the years 1994-98, the Government wants to achieve:
A reduction of 40 per cent in the number of people killed or seriously injured
A reduction of 50 per cent in the number of children killed or seriously injured
A reduction of 10 per cent in the slight casualty rate
Good progress is being made towards achieving the targets.
By 2007 the number of deaths and serious injuries had fallen by 45% and the number of children killed or seriously injured down by 67%. The slight casualty rate had dropped by 35%.
The GB road safety strategy Tomorrow's Roads - Safer for Everyone, sets out a range of measures designed to help achieve the targets.
The Scottish Government has undertaken a public consultation exercise http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2008/02/04143155 to obtain views on a Road Safety Framework for Scotland to 2020. The Framework will be published early summer 2009.