Chapter 1: Road Transport Vehicles

Chapter 1: Road Transport Vehicles

1. Introduction

1.1 This chapter provides information about the numbers of road transport vehicles, such as new registrations, numbers licensed by taxation group and council area, ages, cylinder sizes, methods of propulsion, gross weights of heavy goods vehicles, seating capacity of public transport vehicles, licensing figures for taxi and private hire cars and their drivers and numbers of wheelchair accessible taxis.  It also provides statistics of the most popular cars, results of the road vehicle testing scheme (MOT), driving tests, driving licence holders, households with the regular use of a car (from the Scottish Household Survey), the number of Blue Badges issued and information about motor vehicle offences recorded by the Police.

Key Points

• There were 2.96 million vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Scotland in 2017, of which 83 per cent were cars.
• Over two thirds (70%) of the adult population (17+) held a full driving licence in 2017.
• Seventy two per cent of households had access to one or more cars or vans in 2017; over a quarter (29%) of households had access to two or more cars or vans.

2. Main Points

Vehicles Licensed

2.1 The total number of new motor vehicles registrations in 2017 was around 249,700, 8% less than in 2016 and 1% less than 2007. (Table 1.1)

2.2 New registrations of cars in 2017 accounted for around 249,700 of these, around 20,000 (8%) less than in 2016, and 2,000 1%) less than 2007.  Of all new registered vehicles in 2017, 123,900 (50%) were petrol-propelled, and 137,000 (47%) were diesel-propelled. The remaining new vehicles registered in 2017 were mostly electric or hybrid-electric vehicles, both these groups have seen steady increases in new registrations in recent years.  In the last 10 years, only 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 saw more new diesel vehicles registered than petrol vehicles. More detailed data on vehicles registered in 2017 by body type and propulsion is included in Chapter 13. (Table 1.1) 

2.3 The total number of vehicles licensed was 2.96 million in 2017, 2 per cent higher than 2017 and 13% higher than in 2007.  The number of private and light goods vehicles in 2017 was 2.6 million, 2% more than 2016 and 14% higher than 2007. (Table 1.2)

2.4 Glasgow had the largest number of vehicles licensed as at the end of 2017 (232,300), followed by Fife (208,700) and Edinburgh (199,100) - based on the postcode of the registered keeper.  Per head of population (aged 17+), Dundee had the third lowest figure behind Edinburgh and Glasgow.  Dundee had 513 vehicles for every 1,000 people aged 17+, Glasgow was lowest at 450.  Vehicle ownership per head was much higher in rural areas – both Orkney and Renfrewshire had 927 vehicles per 1,000 people aged 17+ and Shetland had 901, the three areas in Scotland with the highest vehicle ownership by population.  The Scotland average was 665 per thousand. The pattern for car registrations was similar with Glasgow lowest, but Renfrewshire had the highest figure per thousand population at 787, followed by Stirling at 736.  The effect of the registration of company car fleets can be seen: Renfrewshire accounted for 22 per cent (38,500) of all the company cars registered in Scotland, compared to 5 per cent of all cars. (Table 1.3)

2.5 There were 10,356 taxis and 13,843 private hire cars licensed in Scotland based on figures provided by Scottish local licensing authorities during October-November 2018. These show that licensed taxis have fallen by 37 and private hire cars have risen by 884 compared with figures for 2017.  Latest figures show that of the 10,356 licensed taxis, 4,916 (47%) are wheelchair accessible, the same proportion and slight increase in the total number of accessible vehicles from the previous year. The proportion of wheelchair accessible vehicles varies across different Authority areas. (Table 1.4)

2.6 The average age of private and light goods vehicles in 2017 was 6.6 years, the same as last year, and continuing a trend of increasing average age since 2007. The average age of private and light goods vehicles continued to be lower in Scotland than for Great Britain as a whole. In 2017 the average age of these vehicles in Great Britain was 7.8 years. (Table 1.6)

2.7 There were 5,859 licensed operators of heavy goods vehicles in Scotland in December 2018 and 853 public service vehicle licence holders.  Most HGV operators had few (if any) vehicles specified on the licence: 2,736 had 0-2 vehicles, 1,452 had 3-5 vehicles and 816 had 6-10 vehicles.  Only 90 operators had between 51 and 100 vehicles specified on the licence as at December 2018. (Table 1.10)

2.8 The most popular new car sold in Scotland in 2017 was the Vauxhall Corsa with a market share of 4.1%.  The top 5 most popular models had a total market share of 15% and the top 10, 25%. (Table 1.11)

MOTs & Driving Tests

2.9 In 2017/18, about 37% of cars tested in the Road Vehicle Testing Scheme (MOT) were unsatisfactory, as were 14% of motor cycles. About 16% of cars tested had unsatisfactory lights or signalling, 17% had unsatisfactory suspension and 14% had unsatisfactory brakes (a vehicle with more than one type of fault is counted against each of them). 7% of motorcycles tested had unsatisfactory lights or signalling, 4% had unsatisfactory brakes and 3% had unsatisfactory steering or suspension. (Table 1.12)

2.10 There were 133,000 driving licence practical tests conducted in 2017, a decrease of 5% on 2016. The pass rate was 1% lower at 49%. The test centre at the Golspie had the highest pass rate (77%), though only 73 tests were conducted, Pitlochry had the highest pass rate for centres where at least 100 tests were conducted (74%), while the lowest was at Glasgow Shieldhall (38%).  (Tables 1.13 & 1.14)

2.11 The Scottish Household Survey results for 2017 showed that 70% of adults over the age of 17 held a full driving license. Although men were more likely to hold a full driving licence than women in all age groups, the difference between the proportions increased with age.  For the 17-19 age group in 2017, the difference was 20 percentage points. For 70-79 year olds there was a difference of 24 percentage points (men: 80%, women: 56%), which increased to 32 percentage points for those aged 80+ (men: 66%; women: 34%). (Tables 1.16 and 1.17)

2.12 SHS results also showed that the percentage holding a full driving licence tended to increase with household income. In 2017, 89% of adults aged 17+ living in households which had an annual net income of over £40,000 held a full driving licence.  In contrast, only 44% of adults who lived in households with an annual net income of up to £10,000 held a full driving licence.  

2.13 License possession was also more likely in rural areas.  In 2017, 61% of adults aged 17+ living in large urban areas held a full driving licence compared with 83% of those living in ‘Remote Rural’ areas (the Scottish Government urban/rural classification system used in the Survey is described in the Notes and Definitions section, page 225). (Table 1.16)

Car Availability

2.14 The Scottish Household Survey shows that 72 per cent of households had access to one or more cars in 2017, a proportion that has remained relatively stable over the last five years.  A quarter (29%) of households had access to two or more cars.  (Table 1.19)  These estimates were similar to results from the Scotland Census 2011, which suggested that 69% of households have access to one or more cars, with 27% having two or more cars. The Census also showed that slightly fewer men (21 per cent) than women (26 per cent) aged 16 and over lived in households with no cars or vans available. (Table 1.23)

2.15 The Scottish Household Survey also shows how the percentage of households with a car available for private use varies between different household types, income bands and type of area.  In 2017, family (small or large) and large adult households were most likely to have access to at least one car (large family: 92%, small family: 89%, large adult: 87%). (note definitions of family types are included in the Notes and Definitions section, page 225)  Least likely to have access to a car were single pensioner households (46%). The SHS also showed that 30% of large adult and 17% of large family households had 3 or more cars available for private use in 2017. (Table 1.20)  The 2011 Census showed that married or cohabiting families with dependent children were most likely to have access to a car, at 92%, and single pensioner households were the least likely, at 36%. (Table 1.24)

2.16 Only 37% of households whose net annual income was up to £10,000 had one or more cars available for private use, compared with at least 84% of households whose annual net income were above £25,000. 62% of households in large urban areas had cars, compared with 87-88% those in rural areas. (Table 1.20) 

2.17   The car ownership statistics from the SHS can be supplemented with information on equalities from the 2011 Census.  This shows that the proportion of households with no car or van available was generally higher for those where the Household Reference Person (HRP)¹ was from a minority ethnic group; within this group it was highest for households where the HRP was from the ‘African’ (60 per cent) or ‘Caribbean or Black’ (49 per cent) ethnic groups.  Additionally, of the 473,000 people in households who had a long-term health problem or disability that limited their day-to-day activities a lot, 46 per cent lived in households with no cars or vans available.  The corresponding proportion was 34 per cent for the 523,000 people whose day-day activities were limited a little and 19 per cent for the 4.2 million people who had no limiting long-term health problem. (Table 1.25)

2.18 There were 232,534 Blue Badges on issue in Scotland at the end of March 2018.  119,851 were issued to recipients of allowances or grants which provide an automatic entitlement to a Blue Badge, 109,888 were issued on a discretionary basis to other people with a permanent or substantial disability, and 2,795 were issued to institutions. (Table 1.21)

Motor Vehicle Offences

2.19 The numbers of motor vehicle offences recorded by the police include offences in respect of which either the police or the procurator fiscal made a conditional offer of a fixed penalty (mainly moving vehicle offences).  They do not include stationary vehicle offences which are dealt with by the police or traffic wardens by means of fixed penalty notices (mainly parking offences).

2.20 Following the establishment of Police Scotland, data for 2013-14 onwards are returned from one central unit within Police Scotland using their performance management tool. Prior to 2013-14, data were returned by the eight legacy police force areas. An extensive quality assurance exercise was carried out by the Scottish Government to ensure that the dataset produced from the new system is consistent with data returned from the legacy police forces.

2.21 This exercise identified a number of anomalies affecting comparability of the time series resulting in breaks in the series. Further information about these discontinuities can be found in the Technical report, entitled Recorded Crime: Comparability of Police Scotland and Legacy Force Data, available from http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport.

2.20 The total number of motor vehicle offences recorded in 2017-18 was 127,015 (Table 1.22).

2.21 The total number of motor vehicle offences recorded decreased by 8% between 2016-17 and 2017-18; changes in these figures may arise because of changes in the level of enforcement or police deployment. The largest decreases were for Mobile phone offences (53% decrease from 6,709 to 3,173) and Seat belt offences (30% decrease from 4,502 to 3,134). The largest increase was for Failing to stop after accident (69% increase from 8,705 to 14,694) (Table 1.22).

Footnote

1. The “Household Reference Person”, or HRP, was introduced in the 2001 Census to replace the concept of the “head of the household”. This allows a household to be further characterised using the properties of the HRP. The HRP is taken as the adult in the household with the highest economic activity – if the two people have the same economic activity then the oldest becomes the HRP.

Figure 1.1 New registrations by taxation group

Other Vehicles

Note: In 2003 the definition of "Crown Exempt" and "Other" categories mean figures aren't strictly comparable. See footnote 3 of table 1.1

Table 1.1: New registrations by taxation group, body type and method of propulsion 

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
											thousand
by type of vehicle (taxation group)
Private and light goods	209	170	177	168	159	175	199	217	223	225	207
Motorcycles	8	7	6	5	5	5	5	6	6	7	6
Public transport 1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Goods	3	4	2	2	2	3	3	2	3	4	3
Crown and exempt 2	28	32	30	32	34	32	32	34	32	32	31
Other vehicles 2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2
Total	251	215	216	209	202	216	241	262	268	270	250
by body type
Cars	203	173	186	177	168	183	205	222	222	222	204
Taxis	1	~	~	~	~	~	~	1	~	~	~
Motorcycles	8	8	6	5	5	5	5	6	6	7	6
Three wheelers	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Light goods 3	29	23	14	18	20	18	20	23	28	29	28
Goods 3	4	4	3	2	3	3	4	3	4	5	4
Buses and coaches	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Agricultural vehicles etc	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Other vehicles	3	3	2	2	3	4	3	3	3	3	3
All vehicles	251	215	216	209	202	216	241	262	268	270	250
by method of propulsion
Petrol	143	117	124	108	98	110	119	125	125	128	124
Diesel	107	97	91	99	102	104	120	133	138	137	118
Hybrid Electric	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	3	6
Electricity	~	~	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2
Gas Bi-Fuel	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	c	0	~	~
Gas Or Petrol/Gas	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Other 4	~	~	~	~	c	~	c	~	~	c	c
Total	251	215	216	209	202	216	241	262	268	270	250

c. Value has been suppressed to avoid disclosing personal information.
1.  Estimates include only those vehicles with more than 8 seats.
2. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards 
3. In 2004 DfT revised the figures for the light goods and goods body types back to 2001. DfT does not have the underlying data to revise earlier years' figures.
4. Gas Diesel and Steam.
Note: Table 13.9 in Chapter 13 shows vehicles first registered in 2017 by body type and method of propulsion.

Note: Table 13.9 in Chapter 13 shows vehicles first registered in 2017 by body type and method of propulsion.

Table 1.2: Vehicles licensed at 31 December, by taxation group, body type and method of propulsion

	20073	20083	20093	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
											thousand
by type of vehicle (taxation group)
Private and light goods	2,313	2,347	2,362	2,364	2,369	2,395	2,436	2,496	2,537	2,594	2,638
Motorcycles	63	66	66	63	60	60	59	61	62	63	62
Public transport 1	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Goods	33	32	31	30	29	29	29	29	30	30	30
Crown and exempt 2	195	198	203	206	211	212	213	214	211	208	207
Other vehicles 2	11	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	11	11	12
All vehicles	2,627	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863	2,919	2,962
by body type
Cars	2,201	2,233	2,249	2,255	2,264	2,285	2,319	2,369	2,394	2,433	2,462
Taxis	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Motorcycles	69	71	72	69	66	66	66	67	68	70	70
Three wheelers	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Light goods	234	240	242	240	238	241	247	256	269	283	294
Goods	38	38	37	36	36	35	36	36	37	38	38
Buses and coaches	18	17	17	16	16	16	15	15	15	15	15
Agricultural vehicles etc	43	44	45	45	47	48	48	49	50	50	52
Other vehicles	19	18	18	19	20	22	23	24	25	25	26
All vehicles	2,627	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863	2,919	2,962
by method of propulsion
Petrol	1,747	1,735	1,701	1,656	1,619	1,592	1,567	1,552	1,522	1,509	1,497
Diesel	874	923	974	1,018	1,061	1,113	1,178	1,252	1,321	1,386	1,435
Hybrid Electric	1	2	3	4	5	6	8	9	11	14	19
Electricity	1	1	2	2	2	3	4	5	6	7	9
Gas Bi-Fuel	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1
Gas or petrol/gas	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Steam	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Others	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Total	2,627	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863	2,919	2,962

1. Estimates include only those vehicles with more than 8 seats. 
2. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards 
3. DfT have revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf
Note: Table 13.10 in Chapter 13 shows vehicles licensed in 2017 by body type and method of propulsion.

Note: Table 13.10 in Chapter 13 shows vehicles licensed in 2017 by body type and method of propulsion.

Figure 1.2: Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2017 by Council

* Formerly Western Isles

Figure 1.3: Private cars licensed at 31 December 2017 per thousand population aged 17+

* Formerly Western Isles

Table 1.3: Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2017 by Council and taxation group

	Private and light goods		Motor- cycles1	Public transport	Goods2	Crown and Exempt 3	Other vehicles	All vehicles			Population aged 17+ (NRS Population estimates Mid 2017)	Vehicles registered per 1,000 people aged 17+	Cars registered per 1,000 people aged 17+
	Body type cars	Other vehicles						Total	of which body type cars	of which company cars
													thousand
Aberdeen City	91.2	9.0	2.8	0.5	0.9	4.2	0.4	109.1	94.1	4.4	192,494	567	489
Aberdeenshire	140.2	21.8	4.8	0.6	2.1	17.9	1.3	188.8	144.8	5.5	210,113	898	689
Angus	56.6	7.6	1.9	0.1	0.9	6.6	0.3	74.1	59.1	2.6	95,676	774	618
Argyll & Bute	40.5	7.4	1.2	0.3	0.6	4.0	0.3	54.3	42.4	1.8	72,790	747	582
Clackmannanshire	24.3	2.3	0.7	0.1	0.1	1.8	0.0	29.4	25.7	1.1	41,845	704	615
Dumfries & Galloway	71.9	12.6	2.6	0.2	1.5	11.5	0.3	100.5	75.8	4.0	124,212	809	610
Dundee City	52.4	4.4	1.3	0.3	0.5	4.4	0.1	63.3	55.5	3.3	123,354	513	450
East Ayrshire	53.3	6.3	1.6	0.2	0.7	5.4	0.2	67.8	56.5	3.0	99,491	681	568
East Dunbartonshire	53.1	3.5	1.0	0.1	0.2	2.4	0.1	60.4	55.1	1.7	87,821	687	627
East Lothian	48.5	5.5	1.6	0.1	0.3	4.0	0.1	60.2	50.7	2.1	84,659	710	599
East Renfrewshire	45.6	2.7	0.7	0.1	0.2	2.1	0.1	51.6	47.3	1.7	74,547	692	634
Edinburgh, City of	169.5	13.3	4.3	1.2	0.6	10.0	0.3	199.1	176.0	8.3	431,066	462	408
Eilean Siar 4	12.5	3.4	0.5	0.1	0.2	1.7	0.1	18.5	13.1	0.5	22,315	827	586
Falkirk	75.3	7.4	2.0	0.4	1.2	5.0	0.2	91.7	79.1	3.7	130,137	704	608
Fife	170.0	17.7	5.0	1.0	1.2	13.4	0.5	208.7	178.7	7.8	303,158	689	590
Glasgow, City of	182.3	22.8	3.1	1.4	1.7	19.3	1.6	232.3	197.3	19.2	516,136	450	382
Highland	111.3	21.9	3.9	0.6	1.4	13.2	1.0	153.3	116.1	5.5	193,028	794	602
Inverclyde	32.4	2.0	0.7	0.5	0.1	2.3	0.0	38.0	34.4	1.5	65,231	583	527
Midlothian	40.7	5.0	1.4	0.1	0.4	3.1	0.1	50.8	42.9	2.1	71,853	708	598
Moray	45.2	7.2	1.8	0.1	0.7	4.8	0.3	60.0	47.0	2.0	78,339	766	600
North Ayrshire	58.1	6.0	1.7	0.2	0.6	4.9	0.2	71.8	61.6	3.4	111,380	645	553
North Lanarkshire	138.2	23.1	2.8	0.6	4.2	11.4	0.4	180.6	148.2	9.1	273,058	661	543
Orkney Islands	10.4	2.8	0.5	0.1	0.2	2.8	0.2	16.9	11.1	0.5	18,246	927	606
Perth & Kinross	73.7	10.5	2.1	0.3	0.8	7.8	1.5	96.5	76.4	3.8	124,933	773	612
Renfrewshire	109.5	15.2	1.8	0.5	1.3	5.8	0.2	134.2	114.1	38.5	144,860	927	787
Scottish Borders	57.5	9.2	1.7	0.2	1.4	7.3	0.3	77.5	59.8	3.0	94,805	818	630
Shetland Islands	11.3	3.1	0.5	0.1	0.3	1.3	0.2	16.8	11.6	0.8	18,599	901	626
South Ayrshire	53.0	5.5	1.5	0.5	0.3	4.5	0.1	65.5	55.6	2.7	93,810	698	592
South Lanarkshire	141.1	14.3	3.0	0.6	2.4	11.4	0.5	173.3	149.5	8.0	259,621	668	576
Stirling	55.0	7.6	1.0	0.1	0.6	3.5	0.1	67.9	57.1	14.3	77,513	876	736
West Dunbartonshire	35.7	3.6	0.8	0.1	0.2	2.8	0.1	43.4	38.2	2.2	72,924	594	523
West Lothian	82.5	9.9	2.4	0.5	2.5	6.0	0.5	104.2	87.0	4.6	143,750	725	605
Council Unknown	0.5	0.1	0.0	c	0.0	0.6	0.0	1.1	0.7	0.1
Scotland	2,343.4	294.6	62.5	11.8	30.3	207.4	11.6	2,961.6	2,462.4	173.0	4,451,764	665	553

1.  Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles
2. Excludes heavy goods vehicles that are exempt from tax.
3. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group  are now part of Crown and Exempt taxation group. 
4. Formerly Western Isles

Table 1.4: Taxi, private hire cars and drivers licensed by local authority area, 2018

	Taxi vehicles	Private hire cars	Total	Taxi driver licenses	Private hire licences	Total	Wheelchair accessible taxis	Wheelchair accessible private hire cars
Council
Aberdeen City	899	243	1,142	1,301	42	1,343	465	-
Aberdeenshire	470	296	766	1,720	141	1,861	50	37
Angus	111	62	173	204	102	306	8	6
Argyll & Bute	179	56	235	361	74	435	N/A	N/A
Clackmannanshire	56	49	105	124	7	131	4	1
Dumfries & Galloway	228	104	332	506	32	538	3	1
Dundee City	575	195	770	1,124	54	1,178	317	..
East Ayrshire	125	85	210	414	23	437	21	6
East Dunbartonshire	315	343	658	633	92	725	26	1
East Lothian 1	139	130	269	398	..	398	139	-
East Renfrewshire	60	430	490	75	566	641	4	10
Edinburgh, City of	1,316	2,165	3,481	3,118	2,878	5,996	1,316	-
Eilean Siar	95	25	120	183	15	198	2	2
Falkirk	427	146	573	520	144	664	79	12
Fife 1	485	350	835	1,823	..	1,823	18	53
Glasgow, City of	1,420	3,759	5,179	2,482	5,042	7,524	1,420	21
Highland	601	215	816	817	304	1,121	18	10
Inverclyde 1	239	55	294	527	..	527	22	2
Midlothian	52	153	205	86	296	382	52	-
Moray	166	25	191	334	14	348	14	6
North Ayrshire	220	67	287	560	2	562	39	-
North Lanarkshire	493	1,395	1,888	1,206	1,461	2,667	176	2
Orkney Islands	30	24	54	96	12	108	-	1
Perth & Kinross 1	112	208	320	682	..	682	12	18
Renfrewshire	235	836	1,071	470	972	1,442	230	29
Scottish Borders	214	75	289	364	35	399	15	15
Shetland Islands	80	58	138	144	64	208	3	1
South Ayrshire	136	183	319	554	80	634	136	-
South Lanarkshire	345	1,470	1,815	633	1,765	2,398	15	23
Stirling	76	125	201	417	16	433	22	6
West Dunbartonshire 1	336	79	415	527	..	527	169	8
West Lothian	121	437	558	211	686	897	121	51
Scotland	10,356	13,843	24,199	22,614	14,919	37,533	4,916	322

Source: Scottish Government - Not National Statistics
1. Separate figures for taxi and private hire licences are not available.

Table 1.5: Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2017, by taxation group, and by year of first registration

Taxation group	Pre-2003	2003-2007	2008-2012	2013-2017	Total	Total stock	Average age of vehicles
					percentage of total	thousands	years
Private and light goods	4.8	19.9	30.0	45.4	100.0	2,638	6.6
of which body type cars	4.5	19.7	30.2	45.6	100.0	2,343	6.6
Motorcycles1	25.8	18.7	20.2	35.3	100.0	62	10.0
Public transport	11.9	27.9	26.1	34.1	100.0	12	8.5
Goods	5.8	15.7	27.4	51.1	100.0	30	6.2
Crown and exempt	23.3	11.7	16.2	48.8	100.0	207	12.7
Other vehicles	14.4	14.8	19.9	50.9	100.0	12	7.3
All vehicles	6.6	19.3	28.7	45.5	100.0	2,962	7.1
of which body type cars	4.9	19.3	29.3	46.5	100.0	2,462	6.7

1. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles.

Table 1.6: Average age of vehicles licensed at 31 December, by taxation group¹

Type of vehicle	20075	20085	20095	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
(a) Scotland											years
Private and light goods	5.7	5.8	6.0	6.1	6.3	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6
Motorcycles 2	7.1	7.3	7.8	8.2	8.6	9.0	9.4	9.6	9.8	9.9	10.0
Public transport 3	7.9	7.8	8.0	8.1	8.4	8.4	8.3	8.3	8.3	8.3	8.5
Goods	5.5	5.5	5.8	6.1	6.2	6.3	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.1	6.2
Crown and exempt 4	10.4	10.3	10.4	10.6	10.7	10.9	11.3	11.5	11.9	12.3	12.7
Other vehicles 4	6.8	7.2	7.5	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.9	7.8	7.5	7.3	7.3
All vehicles	6.1	6.2	6.4	6.5	6.7	6.9	7.0	7.0	7.0	7.1	7.1
(b) Great Britain
Private and light goods	6.5	6.7	6.9	7.1	7.3	7.5	7.6	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.8
Motorcycles 2	6.9	7.2	7.7	8.1	8.5	8.9	9.2	9.5	9.6	9.6	9.8
Public transport 3	7.9	7.9	8.0	8.2	8.4	8.4	8.4	8.5	8.5	8.5	8.6
Goods	5.8	5.7	6.0	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.3	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.4
Crown and exempt 4	14.4	14.3	14.4	14.2	14.5	14.7	15.2	15.6	16.0	16.5	16.9
Other vehicles 4	8.5	8.5	9.0	9.2	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.1	8.8	8.9	8.8
All vehicles	7.0	7.2	7.4	7.6	7.8	8.0	8.2	8.3	8.3	8.3	8.4

1. Details of the DfT estimation methodology can be found in the Notes & Definitions.
2. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles.
3. Estimates include only those vehicles with more than 8 seats. 
4. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards.  
5. DfT have revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

Table 1.7: Private and light goods vehicles licensed at 31 December, by cylinder size

Cylinder size	20071	20081	20091	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
											percentage of year total
up to 700 cc	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
701 to 1,000 cc	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	4.0	4.5	5.2	5.9	6.7	7.4
1,001 to 1,200 cc	7.4	7.0	6.6	6.5	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.6
1,201 to 1,500 cc	24.1	24.4	24.7	25.3	25.7	26.0	26.2	26.2	26.3	26.5	26.5
1,501 to 1,800 cc	25.4	25.2	24.8	24.6	24.7	24.7	24.8	24.6	24.3	23.7	23.1
1,801 to 2,000 cc	22.8	23.0	23.2	22.9	22.5	22.0	21.4	20.9	20.4	20.1	20.3
2,001 to 2,500 cc	10.6	10.7	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.9	11.0	11.0	11.2	11.1	10.8
2,501 to 3,000 cc	3.7	3.9	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.8
3,000 cc and over	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.6	1.5	1.5
cc not known	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~	~
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
											thousand
Total	2,313	2,347	2,362	2,364	2,369	2,395	2,436	2,496	2,537	2,594	2,638

1. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

Table 1.8: Heavy goods vehicles licensed at 31 December, by gross weight

Gross weight (tonnes)	20072	20082	20092	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
											percentage of year total
3.5 to 7.5	29.7	29.6	29.1	29.2	28.8	28.3	26.9	26.2	25.2	24.2	23.5
7.51 to 12	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.7	2.7	2.8	3.2	3.3
12.1 to 16	4.2	4.3	4.1	4.0	3.7	3.6	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.4	3.1
16.1 to 20	14.2	14.1	14.1	14.4	14.2	14.1	14.1	13.8	13.4	13.1	12.9
20.1 to 24	3.7	3.7	3.4	3.2	2.7	2.4	2.1	2.0	2.0	2.1	2.0
24.1 to 28	12.6	12.6	13.0	13.3	13.8	14.1	14.6	14.4	14.4	14.2	14.3
28.1 to 32	8.5	9.0	9.0	8.9	9.1	9.0	9.2	9.8	10.1	10.5	10.7
32.1 to 38	2.9	2.7	2.7	2.4	1.9	2.2	2.0	1.9	1.8	1.7	1.7
over 38	21.7	21.7	22.3	22.2	23.3	23.8	24.8	25.6	26.7	27.8	28.6
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
											thousand
Total 1	32.7	32.2	31.2	30.4	29.4	28.9	28.9	29.4	29.7	30.3	30.3

1. Mainly heavy goods vehicles but includes vehicles which are licensed as HGVs but do not have a goods body type. 
2. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

Table 1.9: Public transport vehicles licensed at 31 December: by seating capacity

Number of seats	20071	20081	20091	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
9-15	1,751	1,825	1,766	1,795	1,753	1,721	1,701	1,666	1,636	1,615	1,528
16-32	3,937	3,871	3,920	3,912	3,795	3,836	3,916	3,995	4,013	4,094	4,111
33-40	1,301	1,266	1,186	1,117	1,082	1,003	948	1,008	975	975	1,002
41-48	1,322	1,370	1,383	1,379	1,415	1,458	1,507	1,528	1,529	1,418	1,383
49-56	1,937	1,859	1,757	1,667	1,580	1,449	1,384	1,388	1,380	1,306	1,321
57-64	207	217	270	274	319	397	413	443	463	472	448
65-72	546	523	525	583	539	553	513	510	513	487	486
73 and over	1,406	1,418	1,411	1,384	1,446	1,417	1,374	1,375	1,423	1,466	1,475
Total	12,407	12,349	12,218	12,111	11,929	11,834	11,756	11,913	11,932	11,833	11,754

1. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

Table 1.10: Heavy goods and public service vehicle operators in Scotland by licence type and number vehicles ¹

	HGV				PSV
Number of vehicles specified on licence	Restricted	Standard National	Standard International	Total licence holders	Restricted	Standard National	Standard International	Total licence holders
0-2	1,734	844	158	2,736	299	99	19	417
3-5	618	691	143	1,452	-	106	26	132
6-10	280	445	91	816	-	106	33	139
11-20	106	252	46	404	-	61	30	91
21-50	46	190	51	287	-	22	24	46
51-100	12	64	14	90	-	6	7	13
101-200	8	34	9	51	-	3	1	4
201+	-	17	6	23	-	5	6	11
Total	2,804	2,537	518	5,859	299	408	146	853

1. As at December 2018
Source: Figures in previous versions of this table were obtained from VOSA. These figures are are on a differenct basis and have been obtained from the
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency https://data.gov.uk/dataset/traffic-commissioners-goods-and-public-service-vehicle-operator-licence-records

Table 1.11: The 20 most popular new cars sold in Scotland ¹, 2017

Position	Make	Range	Number of cars sold	Market share percent
1	VAUXHALL	CORSA	8,290	4.1
2	FORD	FIESTA	6,793	3.3
3	FORD	FOCUS	5,374	2.6
4	VOLKSWAGEN	POLO	4,866	2.4
5	VAUXHALL	ASTRA	4,607	2.3
6	VOLKSWAGEN	GOLF	4,477	2.2
7	MINI	MINI	4,143	2.0
8	RENAULT	CLIO	4,086	2.0
9	VAUXHALL	MOKKA X	3,911	1.9
10	NISSAN	QASHQAI	3,342	1.6
11	RENAULT	CAPTUR	3,226	1.6
12	DACIA	SANDERO	3,132	1.5
13	KIA	SPORTAGE	3,024	1.5
14	FORD	KUGA	2,816	1.4
15	HYUNDAI	TUCSON	2,785	1.4
16	FIAT	500	2,631	1.3
17	AUDI	A3	2,602	1.3
18	TOYOTA	YARIS	2,546	1.3
19	TOYOTA	AYGO	2,392	1.2
20	BMW	1 SERIES	2,277	1.1
Total top 20 cars			77,320	38.0
Total all other cars			126,003	62.0
Total cars sold			203,323	100.0

Source: SMMT - Not National Statistics
1. Figures relate to cars sold by members of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd to customers resident in Scotland. Figures differ from the numbers of new registrations of cars in Table 1.1, as the latter may include cars purchased elsewhere.

Table 1.12: Road vehicle testing scheme (MOT) ¹

	2015 8	2016	2017		2015 8	2016	2017
Cars 2			thousands	Private Passenger (over 12 seats)			thousands
Total Tests	2,157.6	2,204.4	2,239.2	Total Tests	4.1	4.3	4.4
Pass with Rectification at Station	125.1	124.7	122.2	Pass with Rectification at Station	0.2	0.2	0.2
Fail	865.0	856.3	836.7	Fail	1.3	1.4	1.3
Initial Failure Rate 4	40.1%	38.8%	37.4%	Initial Failure Rate 4	30.7%	31.3%	29.7%
Final Failure Rate 5	34.3%	33.2%	31.9%	Final Failure Rate 5	25.1%	26.4%	25.5%
Percentage of vehicles with one or more fail				Percentage of vehicles with one or more fail
or PRS 3 type RfRs6 in defect category			percent	or PRS 3 type RfRs6 in defect category			percent
Body and structure	1.6	1.5	1.4	Body and structure	6.4	6.5	6.5
Brakes	15.5	15.1	14.0	Brakes	14.8	15.2	14.7
Drivers view of the road	7.3	7.1	6.6	Drivers view of the road	4.5	5.1	4.5
Driving controls	0.0	0.0	0.0	Driving controls	0.6	0.9	0.8
Fuel and exhaust	5.5	5.2	4.7	Fuel and exhaust	3.3	3.3	3.1
Lighting and signalling	18.0	17.0	15.8	Lighting and signalling	16.1	16.6	14.0
Motor tricycles and quadricycles	0.0	0.0	0.0	Reg plates and vin	0.4	0.5	0.4
Reg plates and vin	0.8	0.8	0.7	Road wheels	0.1	0.2	0.1
Road wheels	0.4	0.4	0.4	Seat belts	4.2	5.1	5.1
Seat belts	1.9	1.7	1.5	Steering	3.6	3.3	3.3
Steering	4.0	3.8	3.3	Suspension	7.9	8.4	8.2
Suspension	18.0	17.0	16.6	Towbars	0.2	0.2	0.3
Towbars	0.0	0.0	0.0	Tyres	3.0	3.4	3.2
Tyres	7.7	7.6	7.3	Items not tested	0.0	0.0	0.0
				Items not tested	0.3	0.0	0.0
Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	3.32	3.25	3.13	Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	3.95	3.99	3.97
Motor cycles			thousands	Light goods vehicles 7			thousands
Total Tests	61.3	61.5	60.0	Total Tests	49.9	52.5	54.4
Pass with Rectification at Station	3.2	3.0	2.7	Pass with Rectification at Station	3.1	3.2	3.1
Fail	9.2	8.7	8.1	Fail	25.3	25.5	24.6
Initial Failure Rate 4	15.1%	14.1%	13.6%	Initial Failure Rate 4	50.7%	48.6%	45.2%
Final Failure Rate 5	9.9%	9.3%	9.0%	Final Failure Rate 5	44.5%	42.6%	39.6%
Percentage of vehicles with one or more fail				Percentage of vehicles with one or more fail
or PRS 3 type RfRs6 in defect category			percent	or PRS 3 type RfRs6 in defect category			percent
Body and structure	0.6	0.5	0.5	Body and structure	5.8	5.6	5.4
Brakes	3.8	3.7	3.5	Brakes	29.3	27.8	25.7
Drive system	1.3	1.3	1.2	Drivers view of the road	11.8	11.3	10.0
Driving controls	0.4	0.3	0.4	Fuel and exhaust	5.5	5.2	4.6
Fuel and exhaust	0.8	0.7	0.6	Lighting and signalling	32.9	31.3	28.3
Lighting and signalling	8.2	7.5	7.3	Reg plates and vin	1.5	1.3	1.2
Registration plates and vin	1.0	1.0	1.0	Road wheels	0.3	0.3	0.3
Sidecar	0.0	0.0	0.0	Seat belts	4.1	3.8	3.4
Steering and suspension	3.3	3.1	3.1	Steering	8.9	8.0	6.7
Tyres and wheels	2.9	2.5	2.3	Suspension	22.0	20.8	18.8
Items not tested	0.0	0.0	0.0	Towbars	0.3	0.3	0.2
				Tyres	7.0	6.8	6.3
				Items not tested	0.2	0.0	0.0
Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	1.95	1.89	1.90	Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	5.02	4.88	4.68

1. Vehicle numbers are for valid, and completed normal tests only. Retests are excluded.
2. Cars, vans and passenger vehicles with up to 12 seats.
3. PRS = Pass with Rectification at Station
4. Initial Failure Rate = (PRS + Failures) / Total Tests
5. Final Failure Rate = Failures / Total Tests
6. Reason for Rejection
7. Over 3,000kg and up to and including 3,500kg.
8. Figures for 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2017 have been sourced from the revised MOT system. 
Some Vehicle Testing Sites in Scotland had previously been omitted, but are now included, hence higher test volumes in 2014/15 and 2015/16 than before.
All earlier figures are sourced from original MOT Computerisation system, and omit some VTS in error.

Table 1.13: Driving licence tests, DVLA receipts¹

	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Theory 4									thousand
Applications received	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Theory tests conducted	105	99	103	99	122	129	190	147	164
Theory test passes	69	65	66	61	67	69	94	76	90
percent
Theory test pass rate	66	66	64	62	54	54	49	52	55
Practical 2,4									thousand
Applications received	132	132	130	119	126	127	136	143	142
Driving tests concluded	120	126	125	113	124	123	123	140	133
Passes	56	58	59	54	58	59	60	69	65
									percent
Pass rate	46	47	47	47	47	48	48	50	49
DVLA receipts									£ million
Vehicle licences 3	449.7	463.0	479.0	473.0	479.6	512.5	512.7	..	..
Driving licences	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Total	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

Source: DVLA and DSA - Not National Statistics
1.  Figures relate to the financial year which commences in the specified calendar year.
2. The practical test figures are provisional.
3. The vehicle licence figure does not include refunds issued. DVLA  are currently investigating the financial accuracy of these figures and an update for vehicle licences is not available at the moment.
4. These figures are for car licence tests only.

Table 1.14: Practical Driving Test - Pass Rate at Test Centres 2017-18

	Male			Female			Overall
	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate
Aberdeen North (Bridge of Don) (M)	1,862	1,150	61.8%	2,238	1,169	52.2%	4,100	2,319	56.6%
Aberdeen South (Cove) (M)	1,515	952	62.8%	1,933	1,039	53.8%	3,448	1,991	57.7%
Aberfeldy (R)	31	21	67.7%	49	24	49.0%	80	45	56.3%
Airdrie (M)	1,891	957	50.6%	2,290	1,037	45.3%	4,181	1,994	47.7%
Alness (R)	441	275	62.4%	493	282	57.2%	934	557	59.6%
Arbroath (R)	340	218	64.1%	367	233	63.5%	707	451	63.8%
Ayr (M)	1,235	595	48.2%	1,284	551	42.9%	2,519	1,146	45.5%
Ballater (R)	55	41	74.5%	88	53	60.2%	143	94	65.7%
Banff (R)	126	76	60.3%	138	75	54.3%	264	151	57.2%
Barra (R)	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Benbecula Island (R)	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Bishopbriggs (M)	2,802	1,456	52.0%	3,162	1,473	46.6%	5,964	2,929	49.1%
Brodick (Isle of Arran) (R)	43	27	62.8%	36	22	61.1%	79	49	62.0%
Buckie (R)	152	88	57.9%	147	75	51.0%	299	163	54.5%
Callander (O)	175	89	50.9%	256	120	46.9%	431	209	48.5%
Campbeltown (R)	53	38	72	66	42	64	119	80	67
Castle Douglas (R)	193	105	54.4%	188	106	56.4%	381	211	55.4%
Crieff (R)	89	65	73.0%	95	59	62.1%	184	124	67.4%
Cumnock (T)	431	257	59.6%	597	309	51.8%	1,028	566	55.1%
Dumbarton (M)	908	490	54.0%	1,062	514	48.4%	1,970	1,004	51.0%
Dumfries (M)	873	461	52.8%	843	410	48.6%	1,716	871	50.8%
Dundee (M)	2,156	1,367	63.4%	2,795	1,534	54.9%	4,951	2,901	58.6%
Dunfermline (M)	1,550	728	47.0%	1,762	751	42.6%	3,312	1,479	44.7%
Dunoon (R)	108	65	60.2%	112	66	58.9%	220	131	59.5%
Duns (R )	41	33	80.5%	69	47	68.1%	110	80	72.7%
East Kilbride (T)	374	173	46.3%	704	303	43.0%	1,078	476	44.2%
Edinburgh (Currie) (M)	3,223	1,619	50.2%	3,313	1,572	47.4%	6,536	3,191	48.8%
Edinburgh (Musselburgh) (M)	3,527	1,790	50.8%	3,849	1,671	43.4%	7,376	3,461	46.9%
Elgin (M)	996	549	55.1%	1,108	556	50.2%	2,107	1,106	52.5%
Forfar (R)	279	199	71.3%	317	206	65.0%	596	405	68.0%
Fort William (R)	200	126	63.0%	232	155	66.8%	432	281	65.0%
Fraserburgh (O)	264	182	68.9%	340	202	59.4%	604	384	63.6%
Gairloch (R)	15	12	80.0%	21	13	61.9%	36	25	69.4%
Galashiels (M)	451	284	63.0%	457	257	56.2%	908	541	59.6%
Girvan (T)	109	70	64.2%	146	91	62.3%	255	161	63.1%
Glasgow (Anniesland) (M)	4,733	1,965	41.5%	5,014	1,840	36.7%	9,747	3,805	39.0%
Glasgow (Baillieston) (M)	3,239	1,500	46.3%	3,934	1,570	39.9%	7,173	3,070	42.8%
Glasgow (Knightswood)	..	..	..	..	..	..	24	9	37.5%
Glasgow (Shieldhall) (M)	3,426	1,367	39.9%	3,325	1,174	35.3%	6,751	2,541	37.6%
Golspie (R)	32	27	84.4%	41	29	70.7%	73	56	76.7%
Grangemouth (M)	1,866	1,011	54.2%	2,047	1,028	50.2%	3,913	2,039	52.1%
Grantown-On-Spey (R)	74	42	56.8%	74	36	48.6%	148	78	52.7%
Greenock (M)	1,127	532	47.2%	1,395	557	39.9%	2,522	1,089	43.2%
Haddington (R )	473	346	73.2%	645	385	59.7%	1,118	731	65.4%
Hamilton (M)	2,726	1,352	49.6%	3,134	1,371	43.7%	5,860	2,723	46.5%
Hawick (R)	162	104	64.2%	229	137	59.8%	391	241	61.6%
Huntly (R)	145	100	69.0%	160	110	68.8%	305	210	68.9%
Inveraray (R)	41	34	83	31	18	58	72	52	72
Inverness (Cradlehall Business Park) (M)	1,289	688	53.4%	1,349	626	46.4%	2,638	1,314	49.8%
Inverurie (R )	375	262	69.9%	530	300	56.6%	905	562	62.1%
Irvine (M)	2,007	1,145	57.1%	2,515	1,257	50.0%	4,522	2,402	53.1%
Islay Island (R )	21	16	76	28	19	68	49	35	71
Isle of Mull (R )	..	..	..	..	..	..	18	10	55.6%
Isle of Skye (Broadford) (R)	37	18	48.6%	31	15	48.4%	68	33	48.5%
Isle of Skye (Portree) (R)	74	52	70.3%	84	56	66.7%	158	108	68.4%
Kelso (R)	108	65	60.2%	149	79	53.0%	257	144	56.0%
Kingussie (R)	48	27	56.3%	40	28	70.0%	88	55	62.5%
Kirkcaldy (M)	2,325	1,238	53.2%	2,681	1,211	45.2%	5,006	2,449	48.9%
Kyle of Lochalsh (R)	43	24	55.8%	28	18	64.3%	71	42	59.2%
Lairg (R)	30	22	73.3%	23	14	60.9%	53	36	67.9%
Lanark (R )	808	442	54.7%	1,077	544	50.5%	1,885	986	52.3%
Lerwick (R)	199	134	67.3%	234	153	65.4%	433	287	66.3%
Livingston (M)	2,047	1,002	48.9%	2,549	1,104	43.3%	4,596	2,106	45.8%
Lochgilphead (R)	82	50	61	84	47	56	166	97	58
Mallaig (R)	..	..	..	..	..	..	21	15	71.4%
Montrose (R)	281	205	73.0%	342	215	62.9%	623	420	67.4%
Newton Stewart (R)	97	50	51.5%	93	44	47.3%	190	94	49.5%
Oban (R)	143	84	58.7%	206	100	48.5%	349	184	52.7%
Orkney (R)	173	115	66.5%	178	133	74.7%	351	248	70.7%
Paisley (M)	2,891	1,429	49.4%	3,547	1,537	43.3%	6,438	2,966	46.1%
Peebles (R)	131	90	68.7%	201	124	61.7%	332	214	64.5%
Perth (M)	920	564	61.3%	1,128	572	50.7%	2,048	1,136	55.5%
Peterhead (M)	461	300	65.1%	533	306	57.4%	994	606	61.0%
Pitlochry (R)	64	51	79.7%	61	41	67.2%	125	92	73.6%
Rothesay (R)	46	38	82.6%	49	28	57.1%	95	66	69.5%
Stirling (M)	1,720	786	45.7%	1,975	811	41.1%	3,695	1,597	43.2%
Stornoway (R)	208	114	54.8%	246	131	53.3%	454	245	54.0%
Stranraer (R)	152	104	68.4%	182	109	59.9%	334	213	63.8%
Thurso (R)	102	64	62.7%	112	74	66.1%	214	138	64.5%
Ullapool (R)	25	16	64.0%	36	20	55.6%	61	36	59.0%
Wick (M)	140	82	58.6%	139	81	58.3%	279	163	58.4%
Scotland	61,707	32,279	52.3%	71,126	33,132	46.6%	132,836	65,412	49.2%

Source: Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency - Not National Statistics
(M) - Main Test Centre
(O) -  Outstation
(R) - Remote Driving Test Centre
(T) - Taking Testing to the Customer site
Note:  Centres where only one examiner has conducted tests have been removed from the details, though they have been included in the national totals.

Table 1.15: People who hold a full car driving licence ¹ by age

Note: This table has been removed as data are no longer available for Scotland.
Latest Scottish estimates are given in table 1.16 although this is based on a different source.

Table 1.16: People who hold a full driving licence 2017

	Age group								All	Sample size
	17-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69	70-79	80+	17 +
percentage of the relevant sub-group 1										number
All people:	31	55	73	81	81	77	67	47	70	9,760
by sex:
Men	42	57	76	83	85	85	80	66	75	4,520
Women	22	54	71	78	76	70	56	34	64	5,250
by annual net household income:
up to £ 10,000 p.a.	**	37	37	29	42	65	55	32	44	1,080
over £ 10,000, up to £ 15,000	**	32	48	50	61	59	51	43	49	1,550
over £ 15,000, up to £ 20,000	**	49	59	72	65	67	65	47	61	1,490
over £ 20,000, up to £ 25,000	**	55	73	70	83	78	76	55	69	1,130
over £ 25,000, up to £ 30,000	**	62	63	78	84	81	81	**	71	900
over £ 30,000, up to £ 40,000	**	62	76	91	85	90	86	**	78	1,380
over £40,000	**	81	91	93	96	94	83	**	89	1,880
by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation:
1 - Most Deprived	**	39	55	55	61	51	37	27	48	1,740
2	**	54	64	74	72	70	53	34	61	1,970
3	**	59	77	84	86	78	70	41	73	2,180
4	**	65	89	92	89	82	81	59	81	2,140
5 - Least Deprived	**	62	86	92	93	92	84	64	83	1,750
by urban / rural classification:
Large urban areas	24	47	66	72	74	71	53	48	61	2,790
Other urban areas	26	60	76	82	81	76	68	41	71	3,510
Accessible small towns	**	63	83	83	85	76	68	47	75	870
Remote small towns	**	67	77	77	79	79	71	63	74	570
Accessible rural areas	**	74	86	94	85	87	81	49	83	990
Remote rural areas	**	71	77	93	92	84	86	58	83	1,030
Sample size (age group)		160	1,070	1,390	1,440	1,640	1,770	1,470	830	9,760

Source: Scottish Household Survey. The interviewer asks whether the person holds a full driving licence (car or motorcycle).  
1.   The denominator includes people for whom it was not known, or not recorded, what type of driving licence (if any) was held.  
** Estimates based on smaller sample sizes may be subject to larger levels of variation and therefore may see relatively large fluctuations over time.

Table 1.17: People who hold a full driving licence, 2007-2017 

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
All people											percent of population 1
Age group
17-19	28	32	25	27	26	28	26	29	26	30	31
20-29	58	56	58	58	54	58	56	56	54	55	55
30-39	78	78	77	76	77	75	74	73	72	73	73
40-49	80	83	80	81	80	80	80	82	82	81	81
50-59	76	78	78	78	78	79	80	79	78	81	81
60-69	69	70	75	72	74	73	74	74	76	76	77
70-79	55	53	55	54	57	59	60	61	62	63	67
80+	35	31	37	37	35	37	41	40	43	43	47
All aged 17+	67	68	68	68	67	68	68	69	68	69	70
Sample size	12,152	12,267	12,447	12,361	12,801	9,828	9,838	9,720	9,340	9,570	9,760
Men
Age group
17-19	27	32	28	28	33	35	24	32	28	36	42
20-29	61	62	61	64	58	59	60	59	55	58	57
30-39	82	81	81	80	81	78	78	77	73	78	76
40-49	86	87	86	86	84	86	84	85	85	82	83
50-59	87	84	85	85	87	85	88	85	84	85	85
60-69	83	84	86	84	86	83	86	85	83	83	85
70-79	76	77	78	74	79	79	76	80	76	81	80
80+	61	55	60	59	60	63	64	66	67	65	66
All aged 17+	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	73	75	75
Sample size	5,211	5,289	5,400	5,450	5,515	4,377	4,405	4,410	4,210	4,360	4,520
Women
Age group
17-19	29	33	21	25	17	19	29	27	23	26	22
20-29	54	50	56	51	51	57	52	54	53	53	54
30-39	75	76	73	73	73	71	71	69	71	69	71
40-49	75	78	74	76	77	74	76	80	79	80	78
50-59	66	73	71	72	70	75	72	73	72	77	76
60-69	57	57	64	62	63	65	64	65	68	68	70
70-79	40	37	38	40	43	43	48	46	52	50	56
80+	21	16	22	21	19	22	26	23	27	28	34
All aged 17+	59	60	61	60	60	62	61	62	63	63	64
Sample size	6,941	6,978	7,047	6,911	7,286	5,451	5,433	5,320	5,130	5,210	5,250

Source: Scottish Household Survey. The interviewer asks whether the person holds a full driving licence (car or motorcycle).
1. The denominator includes people for whom it was not known, or not recorded, what type of driving licence (if any) was held.  
Note: For some age groups the sample sizes are relatively small and so estimates can be subject to greater fluctuations over time.

Table 1.18: Households with the regular use of a car 

Note: This table has been removed as data are no longer available for Scotland.
Latest Scottish estimates are given in table 1.19 although this is based on a different source.

Table 1.19: Households with a car available for private use¹, 2007-2017 ²

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Cars available for private use:											percent of households
None	30.3	30.2	30.7	30.3	30.1	31.0	30.2	30.8	30.0	29.3	28.1
1	44.3	43.9	43.7	44.0	44.5	43.0	44.0	43.3	43.3	42.1	42.7
2	21.4	21.8	21.5	21.6	21.0	21.3	21.3	21.1	21.7	23.0	23.4
3+	4.0	4.0	4.2	4.1	4.4	4.6	4.6	4.7	5.1	5.6	5.8
1+	69.7	69.8	69.3	69.7	69.9	69.0	69.8	69.2	70.1	70.7	71.9
2+	25.3	25.8	25.6	25.7	25.4	26.0	25.8	25.9	26.8	28.5	29.2
Sample size	13,414	13,821	14,190	14,214	14,358	10,644	10,652	10,630	10,330	10,470	10,680

1.  Source : Scottish Household Survey. Vans are not counted in this table.
2. From 2012 Q4 the question was changed to ask about access to cars / vans instead of just cars.

Table 1.20: Households with a car or van available for private use ¹, 2017

	Number of cars or vans available for private use						Sample
	size
	None	1	2	3 +	1+	2 +	(=100%)
							percent of households
All households:	28.1	42.7	23.4	5.8	71.9	29.2	10,680
by household type:
Single adult	46.3	47.3	5.5	0.9	53.7	6.4	1,860
Small adult	20.7	37.6	37.3	4.4	79.3	41.7	1,610
Single parent	44.8	47.6	6.5	1.1	55.2	7.6	530
Small family	10.6	40.0	45.4	4.0	89.4	49.4	1,320
Large family	7.8	33.6	41.6	16.9	92.2	58.6	540
Large adult	12.6	26.0	31.7	29.7	87.4	61.4	910
Older smaller	13.1	55.6	28.2	3.1	86.9	31.3	1,930
Single pensioner	53.8	44.1	1.7	0.4	46.2	2.1	1,990
by annual net household income:
up to £10,000 p.a.	63.1	30.5	5.7	0.6	36.9	6.3	1,150
over £ 10,000, up to £ 15,000	52.6	38.8	7.6	1.1	47.4	8.6	1,630
over £ 15,000, up to £ 20,000	36.0	50.4	10.8	2.8	64.0	13.6	1,580
over £ 20,000, up to £ 25,000	23.7	56.6	16.3	3.3	76.3	19.7	1,220
over £ 25,000, up to £ 30,000	15.9	56.0	23.7	4.4	84.1	28.1	990
over £ 30,000, up to £ 40,000	10.3	47.8	33.7	8.2	89.7	41.9	1,530
over £40,000	3.5	30.5	51.4	14.7	96.5	66.0	2,190
by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation:
1 - Most Deprived	49.5	38.0	10.6	1.9	50.5	12.5	1,900
2	35.6	44.1	16.9	3.3	64.4	20.3	2,140
3	25.0	44.9	23.4	6.7	75.0	30.2	2,380
4	16.3	42.5	32.1	9.1	83.7	41.2	2,330
5 - Least Deprived	13.2	44.4	34.3	8.1	86.8	42.4	1,940
by urban / rural classification:
Large urban areas	37.7	41.3	17.1	3.9	62.3	21.0	3,090
Other urban areas	27.8	44.0	23.4	4.8	72.2	28.2	3,820
Accessible small towns	20.4	43.9	27.9	7.9	79.6	35.8	960
Remote small towns	26.5	44.2	22.7	6.6	73.5	29.3	620
Accessible rural areas	11.7	41.6	35.9	10.9	88.3	46.7	1,100
Remote rural areas	13.1	43.3	32.7	10.9	86.9	43.6	1,100

1. Source : Scottish Household Survey.

Table 1.21: Number of blue badges¹ on issue, time series and 2018 breakdown

Badges on issue as at 31st March 2018:
Council	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	Organisations	Individuals - Automatic3	Individuals - Discretionary4
Aberdeen City	8,044	8,032	7,887	5,183	6,552	6,643	6,908	6,863	107	3,294	3,462
Aberdeenshire5	16,288	13,358	12,166	8,155	10,685	10,210	9,838	9,604	135	4,679	4,790
Angus	5,969	5,581	4,892	5,451	4,982	4,845	5,018	5,138	86	2,679	2,373
Argyll & Bute	4,438	4,314	3,867	3,433	3,934	4,114	4,213	4,336	103	1,963	2,270
Clackmannanshire	2,511	2,518	2,377	2,572	2,128	2,161	2,233	2,226	20	1,268	938
Dumfries & Galloway	2,922	3,369	3,212	3,096	9,236	9,337	8,857	9,014	82	4,274	4,658
Dundee City	6,199	6,766	5,776	5,252	5,292	5,452	5,619	5,916	101	3,170	2,645
East Ayrshire	6,819	6,787	6,098	5,735	6,595	6,427	6,617	6,329	71	3,489	2,769
East Dunbartonshire	4,738	5,175	2,905	4,847	4,473	4,661	4,730	4,794	68	2,028	2,698
East Lothian	5,059	4,328	5,131	5,293	4,680	4,712	4,855	4,918	11	2,097	2,810
East Renfrewshire	4,318	5,756	4,375	4,020	4,307	4,322	4,581	4,645	41	1,688	2,916
Edinburgh, City of 10	22,921	23,470	17,502	16,922	15,264	14,868	14,444	14,396	352	6,581	7,463
Eilean Siar	969	918	961	922	863	902	939	964	12	468	484
Falkirk	9,821	8,108	8,256	7,332	6,877	6,899	7,104	7,254	69	3,807	3,378
Fife	21,574	21,021	19,750	18,877	18,646	17,299	17,931	17,869	118	10,016	7,735
Glasgow, City of 6	24,761	27,317	23,692	19,350	21,784	21,642	21,161	21,627	296	12,473	8,858
Highland 7	7,445	12,967	9,938	10,855	9,164	9,215	9,371	9,521	116	4,417	4,988
Inverclyde	5,312	5,183	5,099	4,955	4,439	4,283	4,282	4,367	95	2,003	2,269
Midlothian	4,654	4,673	3,164	4,716	4,416	4,332	4,237	4,345	38	2,092	2,215
Moray	4,849	4,485	4,033	3,687	3,608	3,669	3,699	3,825	10	1,861	1,954
North Ayrshire	8,531	7,379	6,040	6,157	7,086	7,196	7,343	7,534	64	3,826	3,644
North Lanarkshire	19,019	18,013	16,957	18,352	16,453	15,741	16,537	16,225	71	9,747	6,407
Orkney Islands 8	1,143	1,281	1,108	1,050	1,119	1,096	1,100	1,100	30	439	631
Perth & Kinross	5,551	6,169	5,975	6,814	6,542	6,651	6,831	6,779	118	2,679	3,982
Renfrewshire	8,569	8,358	7,873	8,326	7,730	7,838	8,205	7,902	97	4,624	3,181
Scottish Borders 9	…	6,987	6,456	5,980	4,961	4,889	5,062	5,161	37	2,218	2,906
Shetland Islands	383	381	800	953	878	892	974	1,005	16	390	599
South Ayrshire	5,958	6,356	5,212	5,475	5,537	5,703	5,785	5,806	72	2,722	3,012
South Lanarkshire	19,245	15,274	15,602	15,826	16,218	16,218	15,796	15,488	98	8,615	6,775
Stirling	4,649	4,273	4,374	4,082	3,918	3,892	3,859	4,027	62	1,815	2,150
West Dunbartonshire	4,730	4,625	4,221	4,936	4,548	4,546	4,652	4,676	69	2,857	1,750
West Lothian	9,691	9,823	9,529	9,615	8,912	8,873	8,641	8,880	130	5,572	3,178
Total 9	257,080	263,045	245,035	228,219	231,827	229,528	231,422	232,534	2,795	119,851	109,888

Source:  Scottish Government - Not National Statistics
1. Blue Badges for display on motor vehicles used by disabled persons were introduced on 1 April 2000.
2. Totals relate to the number of badges on issue as at 31st March that year. Data prior to 2008 not available. 
3.  The automatic category includes badges issued to individuals in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, a War Pensioners'
Mobility Supplement,  a lump sum (tariffs 1-8) of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, or to blind or registered blind people. (Not subject to further assessment.)
4. Badges issued in the discretionary category to people with a substantial permanent or temporary disability who are unable or virtually unable to walk 
(Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 as amended).(May be subject to further assessment.)
5. Aberdeenshire introduced an electronic data capture system in 2010; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.
6. Glasgow changed data capture process in 2011; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.
7. Highland Council, in April 2010, introduced a fee for the first time which may have contributed to the decline in number of badges issued.
8. Orkney introduced an electronic system in 2009; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.
9. Scottish Borders data was reviewed in 2012.  Data is not available for previous years and is therefore excluded from the totals.  Scottish Borders is included in the 2012 totals
10. City of Edinburgh Council advised of error in 2013 total.  Revised figure down from 27,309 to17,502

Blue badges per 1,000 population

Table 1.22: Motor vehicle offences recorded by the police by type of offence

Discontinuities in the table 2013-14 is the first full reporting year since the establishment of Police Scotland. As a result, data is no longer returned by the eight legacy police force areas and instead comes from one central unit within Police Scotland, using their new performance management reporting tool. To ensure that the dataset produced from this new system is consistent with data returned from legacy police forces, an extensive quality assurance exercise has been carried out to closely compare the data held by the Scottish Government with that extracted from the new force system. This exercise has identified a number of anomalies affecting comparability of the time series resulting in breaks in the series. Vertical lines between figures represent these breaks and comparisons should not be directly made between the two series. The Scottish Government is investigating these issues further and seeking a resolution. Should this be possible, the web tables on the Transport Scotland website will be updated with revised figures for the table below.  Further information about these discontinuities can be found in the Technical report, entitled Recorded Crime: Comparability of Police Scotland and Legacy Force Data, available from  http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport
Type of offence	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16	2016/17	2017/18
Serious Driving Offences
Dangerous driving	2,780	2,567	2,387	2,422	2,476	2,957	2,428	2,881	2,875	2,854
Careless driving	8,739	8,506	7,452	7,431	8,054	8,567	8,345	9,176	8,818	7,868
Drunk Driving of which:	9,800	8,504	7,563	7,445	6,433	6,079	5,218	5,458	5,917	5,863
Driving while unfit through drink/drugs	547	488	502	584	459	490	450	540	653	719
In charge while unfit through drink/drugs	88	78	59	63	52	92	54	71	123	137
Driving with excess blood alcohol	6,774	5,840	4,979	4,889	4,223	3,819	3,161	3,239	3,465	3,262
In charge with excess blood alcohol	566	471	484	433	445	419	390	364	331	333
Failing to provide breath specimen at the roadside	779	643	633	577	495	517	477	509	569	602
Failing to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at a police station	1,046	984	906	899	759	742	686	735	776	810
Failing to stop after accident	6,881	6,552	6,586	5,955	6,804	5,921	5,574	7,660	8,705	14,694
Driving while disqualified	2,659	2,048	1,640	1,466	1,311	1,208	898	1,162	1,371	1,414
Speeding Offences
Speeding in restricted areas	52,146	50,788	50,890	53,068	62,188	38,400	29,316	23,145	13,395	10,685
Other speeding offences2,3	65,984	63,438	63,948	73,078	62,079	44,350	31,937	31,593	21,360	18,737
Signal and Direction Offences
Traffic direction offences	26,995	31,281	34,195	31,786	34,404	26,539	16,307	11,253	5,981	4,496
Pedestrian crossing offences	3,499	4,137	3,944	4,317	4,537	3,776	2,268	1,644	1,181	869
Lighting, Construction & Use Offences
Lighting offences2	11,638	12,791	8,910	10,120	10,934	9,284	7,043	5,029	2,264	1,615
Construction & use regulations2	13,642	13,452	12,271	12,681	11,884	11,639	8,550	8,041	6,121	5,434
Documentation Offences
Vehicle excise licence offences	15,654	14,688	11,673	12,710	11,812	6,601	2,634	3,098	4,664	3,792
No test certificate2	11,640	11,836	10,788	11,650	12,380	18,546	15,528	14,609	14,725	15,145
Driving licence offences2	10,895	9,051	7,424	7,264	7,474	9,492	6,396	6,555	7,018	6,311
Third party insurance offences2	23,171	20,610	17,860	17,407	17,228	18,998	13,747	14,407	16,806	15,945
Registration/identification offences	5,222	5,397	4,520	3,879	3,375	2,934	1,652	1,639	1,394	1,264
Other Offences
Failure to provide information to identify driver2	1,082	1,069	1,206	1,230	971	1,528	1,394	1,474	1,536	1,348
Tachograph etc offences	5,440	3,779	2,437	1,972	2,025	1,635	1,560	1,682	1,268	950
Seat belt offences2	26,225	29,324	29,171	31,505	33,047	37,880	15,619	8,059	4,502	3,134
Mobile phone offences	23,957	26,146	27,736	29,110	30,875	35,764	17,978	10,085	6,709	3,173
Parking offences	298	332	171	177	158	143	105	163	99	76
Other offences	2,651	2,787	2,403	2,528	2048	1,850	1,488	1,484	1,459	1,348
Total offences1	330,998	329,083	315,175	329,201	332,497	294,091	195,985	170,297	138,168	127,015

Source: Recorded Crime, Scottish Government
Notes:1.
The full time series is no longer comparable, the vertical lines in the table represents the break in the series. Direct comparison between the period on either side of the break in the seriesshould not be made. Further information can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport
2  A number of historic figures in these categories have been revised as a result of the quality assurance process noted above and will not match the figures presented in earlier editions of STS,further information can be found at the link in note 1.
3. Includes motorway and clearway offences, which previously appeared as a separate category under Other offences.

Table 1.23: Households with a car or van available by gender, 2011

				Total Number
	None	1	2+	(=100%)
				percent of people in households
All people in households:	23	40	37	5,196,386
Men	20	40	39	2,521,307
Women	25	40	35	2,675,079

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland

Table 1.24: Households with a car or van available, 2011

				Total Number
	None	1	2+	(=100%)
				percent of households
All households:	31	42	27	2,372,777
by selected household type:
Single adult (aged under 65)	48	48	4	511,447
Married or cohabiting family with dependent children	8	36	56	409,369
Married or cohabiting family with no children	11	44	44	413,022
Single parent	43	45	12	263,360
All students	63	27	10	20,928
Single pensioner	64	35	1	311,867
by tenure:
Owned outright	8	38	54	652,675
Owned with a mortgage or loan	6	38	56	1,585,110
Social rented (council)	49	38	13	372,920
Social rented (other)	53	37	10	317,812
Private rented (private landlord or letting agency)	41	40	18	421,264

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland

Table 1.25: Households with a car or van available by disability and ethnicity, 2011

				Total Number
	None	1	2+	(=100%)
				percent of people in households
All people in households:	23	40	37	5,196,386
by disability:
Day-to-day activites limited a lot	46	40	14	472,795
Day-to-day activites limited a little	34	42	23	523,272
Day-to-day activites not limited	19	40	42	4,200,319
by ethnicity:
White: Total	22	40	38	4,995,665
White: Scottish	22	40	38	4,382,131
White: Other British	16	41	43	403,604
White: Irish	27	40	33	52,086
White: Gypsy/Traveller	35	41	24	4,029
White: Polish	31	52	17	60,324
White: Other White	32	42	26	93,491
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups	26	42	32	19,068
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Total	27	38	35	133,506
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British	16	36	48	48,968
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British	29	38	33	31,442
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish or Bangladeshi British	32	41	27	3,710
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Chinese, Chinese Scottish or Chinese British	36	36	28	29,596
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Other Asian	36	44	19	19,790
African	51	36	13	28,170
Caribbean or Black	39	39	22	6,279
Other ethnic groups: Total	34	43	23	13,698
Other ethnic groups: Arab, Arab Scottish or Arab British	36	42	21	8,959
Other ethnic groups: Other Ethnic Group	31	43	25	4,739

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland