Casualties by type of road

Casualties by type of road

Figure 6 shows the number of casualties by road type. Built-up roads are those which have speed limits of up to 40 miles per hour (ignoring temporary speed limits on roads for which the normal speed limit is over 40 mph); non-built up roads have speed limits exceeding 40 miles per hour.

In 2020, non built-up roads accounted for two-fifths of the total number of reported casualties (40%: 1,998 out of 4,992). However, they accounted for just over three-fifths of those killed (62%: 88 out of 142) and over two fifths of the total number of seriously injured (44%: 684 out of 1,539). This will be at least in part due to the higher average speed on non built-up roads, and also because these roads make up two-thirds of Scotland’s road network.

Compared with the 2004-08 average, total casualties on non built-up roads and built-up roads have reduced by similar proportions (72% and 70% respectively.) However, the reduction in fatalities on non built-up roads was greater (at 58%) than for built-up roads (at 34%).

Figure 6: Number of casualties by road type, 2020.