4. Reported numbers of Casualties (Table 2)

4. Reported numbers of Casualties (Table 2)

4.1 In 2015, 162 people were killed in road accidents in Scotland: 41 (20%) less than 2014 . Since 1978, there has been a clear, steady long-term downward trend. More recent years' figures have fluctuated around a less pronounced downward trend [Figure 1].

4.2 In 2015 there were 1,597 people seriously injured in road accidents: 107 (6%) less than in 2014. The long-term trend, has generally been downward since the early 1980s  [Figure 2].

4.3 There were 9,191 people reported as slightly injured in 2015 which was 209 (2%) fewer than in 2014. Between 1970 and the late 1990s, the figures fluctuated between 17,000 and 21,000. However, there has been a clear downward trend since 1997 [Figure 3].

Table 2: Casualties by Severity, 1950 – 2015

		Killed	Serious injury	Killed andSerious	Slight injury	All Severities
1950		529	4,553	5,082	10,774	15,856
1955		610	5,096	5,706	15,193	20,899
1960		648	6,632	7,280	19,035	26,315
1965		743	8,744	9,487	22,340	31,827
1970		815	10,027	10,842	20,398	31,240
1975		769	8,779	9,548	19,073	28,621
1980		700	8,839	9,539	19,747	29,286
1985		602	7,786	8,388	18,899	27,287
1986		601	7,422	8,023	18,094	26,117
1987		556	6,707	7,263	17,485	24,748
1988		554	6,732	7,286	18,139	25,425
1989		553	6,998	7,551	19,981	27,532
1990		546	6,252	6,798	20,430	27,228
1991		491	5,638	6,129	19,217	25,346
1992		463	5,176	5,639	18,534	24,173
1993		399	4,454	4,853	17,561	22,414
1994		363	5,208	5,571	17,002	22,573
1995		409	4,930	5,339	16,855	22,194
1996		357	4,041	4,398	17,318	21,716
1997		377	4,047	4,424	18,205	22,629
1998		385	4,072	4,457	18,010	22,467
1999		310	3,765	4,075	16,927	21,002
2000		326	3,568	3,894	16,624	20,518
2001		348	3,410	3,758	16,153	19,911
2002		304	3,229	3,533	15,742	19,275
2003		336	2,957	3,293	15,463	18,756
2004		308	2,766	3,074	15,428	18,502
2005		286	2,666	2,952	14,933	17,885
2006		314	2,635	2,949	14,320	17,269
2007		281	2,385	2,666	13,573	16,239
2008		270	2,575	2,845	12,747	15,592
2009		216	2,287	2,503	12,540	15,043
2010		208	1,969	2,177	11,161	13,338
2011		185	1,880	2,065	10,725	12,790
2012		176	1,981	2,157	10,557	12,714
2013		172	1,671	1,843	9,662	11,505
2014		203	1,704	1,907	9,400	11,307
2015	prov.	162	1,597	1,759	9,191	10,950
2004 - 2008 average		292	2,605	2,897	14,200	17,097
2011 - 2015 average		180	1,767	1,946	9,907	11,853
2015 percentage change:
on 2014		-20%	-6%	-8%	-2%	-3%
on 04-08 average		-44%	-39%	-39%	-35%	-36%

1. Figures for 2014 and earlier years may differ slightly to those previously published due to late returns, or corrections to earlier returns.

2. Although regular records of the numbers of casualties began in 1947, the level of severity was only collected from 1950 and the number of injury road accidents weren’t collected until 1970.

4.4 There were a total of 10,950 casualties (of all severities) reported in 2015: 357 (3%) fewer than in 2014 and the lowest number since records began in 1950. Between around 1970 and 1990, the figures fluctuated around a general downward trend, with numbers falling from the short-term peak in 1989 & 1990 (of over 27,000).  Since 1998, there has been a consistent reduction every year, with numbers falling below 12,000 in 2013 which was half the level of the early 1990s [Figure 3].

Figure 1: Number of casualties killed, 1950 to 2015

Figure 2: Killed and Seriously injured casualties and Seriously injured casualties, 1950 - 2015

Figure 3: All casualties and Slightly injured casualties, 1950 - 2015