Casualties by type of road

Figure 5 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 2022, non built-up roads accounted for over two-fifths of the total number of reported casualties (43%: 2,427 out of 5,587). However, they accounted for over almost three quarters of those killed (74%: 129 out of 174) and over two fifths of the total number of seriously injured (46%: 804 out of 1,759). 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 2014-18 average, total casualties on non built-up roads have reduced by 40% and built-up roads by 48%. However, the fatalities on non built-up roads were up 5% compared to 11% less for built-up roads.