While overall road casualty statistics in Scotland are at an all time low, the figures have plateaued and a step change is required to achieve further KSI reductions.
That’s the view of George Henry, National Operations Manager for Road Safety Policy and Education for Transport Scotland, expressed in a keynote presentation delivered last week as part of the Festival of Road Safety.
In his presentation, George Henry explains that while there was a 9% year-on-year reduction in overall casualties in 2019, there was an increase in the number of deaths on Scotland’s roads.
He also points out that while there have been ‘substantial reductions’ in the number of KSIs since the 1970s, recent plateauing means road safety needs to be ‘back at the top of the agenda’.
The Scottish Government is currently working on a new road safety framework, which calls for a reduction of at least 50% in road deaths and serious injuries in the 10-year period 2020-2030.
Henry says that most developed nations recognise that to achieve further KSI reductions a step change of road safety delivery is required, including embedding the safe systems approach into national and local activity.
He concludes: “Our vision for Scotland is to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030…but we won’t achieve challenging casualty reduction targets by doing things the same way as we do now.
“The new framework identifies the part that everyone has to play in achieving our long-term aspiration that vision zero becomes a reality.”
You can watch George Henry’s presentation on the Festival of Road Safety catch up service (Monday 23 November).
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