Big fall in Scottish road deaths during 2015

12.00 | 21 October 2016 | | 2 comments

168 people died on Scotland’s roads last year – a 17% year-on-year fall – final statistics for 2015 have confirmed.

Published on 19 October by Transport Scotland, the figures also show a 3% reduction in total casualties – from 11,307 in 2014 to 10,968 in 2015. The number of serious injuries also fell by 6% to 1,596 in the same period.

In terms of age, there were 972 child casualties in reported road accidents in 2015, a year-on-year decrease of 6%. This total included four fatalities, three fewer than 2014, while 139 children were seriously injured, down from 172.

Focussing on road user type, there were three fewer pedal cyclist deaths in 2014 and 15 fewer pedestrian fatalities. There were also three fewer motorcyclist deaths and 19 fewer car user fatalities.

2015 also saw a 7% year-on-year reduction in the number of car users who were seriously injured, and a 21% fall in serious injuries suffered by motorcyclists. 

However, there was a 3% increase in serious injuries to pedal cyclists, while the number of bus users seriously injured increased from 28 to 49.

The report also provides an update on progress against Scotland’s road safety targets, as set out in the Scottish Road Safety Framework.

Compared to the 2004-08 baseline, 2015 saw a reduction of 42% in the number of fatalities (target 30%) and a reduction of 39% in terms of serious injuries (target 43%).

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    Dave: Neither the the drink-drive legislation nor speed limit enforcement can influence the outcome of a crash once it’s happened – they can only reduce their likelihood of happening in the first place. The number of road fatalities therefore can’t be directly correlated to such measures and therefore can’t be used as a measure of their effectiveness. Fatalities (or not) can be influenced by vehicle design and protection, emergency services responses and road side life-saving methods amongst other things.
    Looking at all the published information on all reported crashes in Scotland however, you will be pleased to learn that there were year on year reductions between 2013 and 2015 which could be attributed to the two measures you mentioned.

    I appreciate that was not your mistake in misinterpreting the figures – it was the Alliance of Brtish Drivers who were too quick to jump in with criticism and which may have influenced your ‘original’ comment.


    Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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    We are back to 2013 levels of road fatalities – that year 172 people died on Scottish roads. 2013 was a time before the plethora of average speed cameras were installed, and probably more importantly, before the drink drive limit was lowered.


    David Weston, Corby
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