Walking, Cycling and Wheeling is Safer for All

This outcome is tied to the following indicators:

• Casualties by mode of transport and distance travelled; and
• Perceptions of safety of walking, wheeling, and cycling.

Casualties by mode of transport and distance travelled

Transport Scotland publishes accredited official statistics every year related to road casualties in Scotland captured by the police using Stats 19 statistical returns. Figure 28 shows that between 2019 and 2024 the rate of casualties per million vehicle kilometres travelled for pedal cycles has declined. There has been a slight decrease between 2019 and 2024 for cars and the rate of casualties for cars remained lower than for cyclists.

The number of reported casualties by mode of transport (Figure 29) is higher for cars in comparison to cyclists and pedestrians. It is notable that for all three categories, there has been a decrease in reported casualties between 2019 and 2024, with casualties associated with car travel showing the greatest decrease post-pandemic.

Perceptions of safety of walking, wheeling and cycling

Data from the Scottish Household Survey can be used to monitor trends around safety – this data source has been presented above (see Sections 2 and 8). Additionally, the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey gathers information about individuals’ perception of safety when walking alone in their local area after dark and offers evidence by individual characteristics of interest. Figure 30 shows that majority of respondents felt very or fairly safe walking alone after dark – in 2024/25 this was around 76%. This is roughly the same as pre-pandemic (around 77% in 2019/20).

Similar to the 2019 baseline report, the results from this data source reflect different experiences according to sex. Women tend to feel less safe walking alone in their local area after dark when compared with men (in 2024/25 65% vs 89%). This pattern has remained relatively stable since 2019/20 (see Figure 31).

Similar patterns of safety being a concern to individuals walking and wheeling are present in other data sources. For example, the Scottish Walking and Wheeling survey gathers data on safety during the day and after dark. In 2025, 39% of women reported that they would walk and wheel more in their local area if they felt safer after dark (in comparison with 24% of men).

With regards to cycling, the Scottish Household Survey asks about reasons for not cycling to work (see Section 2) and it is worth noting that individuals reported safety concerns as barriers to not cycling to work. In 2024, 16% of respondents reported concerns about cycling in traffic and 9% reported concerns about personal safety on dark or lonely roads. Between 2019 and 2024, there was a decrease of those reporting concerns for personal safety on dark or lonely roads (2019: 12% vs 2024: 9%). Looking more in-depth at differences between men and women, between 2019 and 2024, concerns about personal safety on dark or lonely roads reduced from 16% to 11% for women, but remains higher when compared to men (Figure 32).

For the indicators relating to cycling, the data presented in this report only covers safety concerns relating to travelling to work. This means that there is a need to further understand wider perceived safety while cycling in relation to traffic and non traffic factors.

Finally, the Walking and Cycling Index asks individuals whether they feel their local area is good or bad for safety when walking, wheeling and cycling. In 2025, cycling was seen as less safe than walking or wheeling - 48% felt cycle was safe against 76% who reported walking or wheeling was a safe form of active travel in their local areas.