Scotland’s transport minister says that the country’s road safety record is showing signs of ‘real improvement’.
Derek Mackay made his upbeat assessment as he published the 2015 Road Safety Framework Annual Report, while also stressing there is more work to be done to continue this trend.
The report outlines progress made in the last 12 months towards the Scottish Government’s road safety targets.
It highlights ‘the continued success’ of drink driving legislation, introduced by the Scottish Government in December 2014, which it describes as leading the way in the UK.
The report also focuses on the ‘positive developments’ with seatbelts on school transport and the ‘dramatic improvements in driver behaviour’ on the A9 following the introduction of average speed cameras.
It reveals that numerous Scottish cities are exploring the possibility of implementing 20mph speed limits in city centre streets following the publication of the Scottish Government’s revised guidance.
In October 2015, national statistics confirmed there were 200 reported road deaths in Scotland during 2014 – a 16% year-on-year increase. In the same time period there was also a 2% rise in the number of people seriously injured.
On the back of this, the transport minister announced a review of the progress towards delivering 2020 casualty reduction targets.
Derek Mackay said: “The publication of this annual report shows we are doing the right things, at the right time, in the right place as we continue to press hard for improvements in Scotland’s road safety record. Preventing loss of life on our roads is a shared responsibility and Scottish ministers remain resolute in our efforts to drive down risks.
“That’s why, through Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020, we are implementing a raft of measures alongside partners to keep us on track towards our ambitious casualty reduction targets.
“Further, the Review of the Framework that I commissioned last year has helped ensure our efforts remain as effective as possible, identifying three priority areas: speed and motorcyclists; pre-driver, drivers aged 17 to 25 and older drivers; and cyclists and pedestrians for further focus.”
Photo credit: copyright M J Richardson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
This was of course the 2015 Annual Report and the latest provisional statistics published by Police Scotland for 2015 suggest that the number of people killed on our roads fell more for 2015 than it had risen for 2014. Provisional reported serious casualties in 2015 were also down below the levels of any recent year as was the total of all casualties.
David S, Scotland
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Is it a consistent fall in the the number of collisions over a period of time which has led to a corresponding fall in the severity of casualties, or is it less KSIs from roughly the same number of collisions? Fewer casualties is good news, but fewer collisions would be even better news.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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An upbeat assessment is inappropriate when, as the item above highlights, deaths are significantly up and serious injuries also rose. These results appear on the graphs in the report but are not explicitly mentioned, except in the Foreword where they are glossed over. The report also has many examples of selective statistics in order to show reductions – particular sections of a road, or during certain months of the year.
Eric Bridgstock, St Albans
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