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 and including 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 2024, non built-up roads accounted for over two-fifths of the total number of reported casualties (42%: 2,331 out of 5,576) and accounted for a similar proportion of serious casualties (43%: 839 out of 1,931). However, they accounted for almost two thirds of those killed (64%: 103 out of 160). This will be at least in part due to the higher average speed on non built-up roads. These roads make up around two-thirds of Scotland’s road network.

Compared with the 2014-18 average (the baseline period for measurements of the current Road Safety Framework) total casualties on non built-up roads have reduced by 43% and built-up roads by 47%. However, whilst fatalities on non built-up roads have decreased by 16% over the same period, fatalities have increased by 13% for built-up roads.