Article 1: Casualty Reduction Targets: Scotland's Road Safety Framework to 2020

Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2018

Article 1: Casualty Reduction Targets: Scotland's Road Safety Framework to 2020

Figure 8: Progress towards the 2020 casualty reduction targets

Figure 8 Progress towards the 2020 casualty reduction targets

Article 1: Casualty Reduction Targets: Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020

1. Introduction

Scotland's Road Safety Framework was launched in June 2009. It set out the vision for road safety in Scotland, the main priorities and issues and included Scotland-specific targets and milestones which were adopted from 2010.

Target

2015 milestone % reduction

2020 target % reduction

People killed

30%

40%

People seriously injured

43%

55%

Children (aged < 16) killed

35%

50%

Children (aged < 16) seriously injured

50%

65%

Each reduction target will be assessed against the 2004-08 average. In addition to the targets a 10 per cent reduction target in the slight casualty rate will continue to be adopted.

The four main targets differ to those used previously, in that deaths have been separated out from serious injuries. In recent years the trends for deaths and serious injuries have differed and are therefore worth mentioning separately.

The targets are deliberately challenging, particularly for child deaths as the child fatality rate in Scotland is higher than in England and Wales. The child fatality target itself will be monitored using a 3 year rolling average due to the small numbers of fatalities each year.

To illustrate the reductions necessary the following table shows the 2004 to 2008 baseline, the latest position as well as the level of casualties inferred by the 2015 milestones and 2020 targets.

2004-2008 average

2018

2015 milestone

2020 target

People killed

292

161

204

175

People seriously injured

2,605

1,582

1,484

1,172

Children (aged < 16) killed

15

61

10

8

Children (aged < 16) seriously injured

325

142

163

114

1. 2016-18 average

Charts showing indicative lines of progress are in figure 8. More detail about the calculation of these indicative lines is included in section 5 of this article.

2 Summary of Progress

The 2018 figures show:

  • 161 people were reported as killed in 2018, 45 per cent (131) below the 2004-2008 average of 292.
  • 1,582 people were reported as seriously injured in 2018, 39 per cent (1,023) below the 2004-2008 average of 2,605.
  • 3 children were reported as killed in 2018, meaning the average for the 2018-2018 period was 6 a year, this is 63 per cent (9) below the 2004-2008 average of 15.
  • 142 children were reported as seriously injured in 2018, 56 per cent (183) below the 2004-2008 average of 325.
  • The slight casualty rate of 13.85 casualties per 100 million vehicle kilometres in 2018 was 57 per cent below the 2004-2008 baseline average of 32.47.

Figure 8 shows progress towards the casualty reduction targets for 2020.

3 Commentary

Numbers killed

As shown in Table la a reduction of 8.8 per cent compared to the 2015 milestone of 204 was required in 2018 to reach the target. The figure for 2018 is 161 which is 21% below the 2015 milestone figure of 204.

Numbers Seriously Injured

As shown in Table Ia below, a reduction of 13.2 per cent compared to the 2015 milestone of 1,484 was required in 2018 to reach this target. The 2018 figure of 1,582 is 7 per cent greater than this and therefore above the trajectory required to meet the target.

Children killed

The number of child fatalities is relatively small and the average of 6 over the last three years meets the 50 per cent reduction target set for 2020. Table Ib shows that the average number of child fatalities for 2018-2018 for each mode (apart from 'other') is below the 2004-2008 baseline.

Child pedestrian fatalities have fallen from an average of 6 per year in 2004-2008 to an average of 2 per year in 2018-2018.

Pedal Cycle child fatalities have fallen from an average of 2 per year in the baseline period to an average of zero in the last three years. The number of child fatalities as passengers in cars has fallen as well from an average of 6 per year in the baseline period to 2 per year in the 2018-2018 period,.

Children seriously injured

As shown in Table Ia below, a reduction of 19.3 per cent compared to the 2015 milestone of 163 was required in 2018 to remain on the trajectory for this target. The 2018 figure of 142 is 13 per cent below the trajectory.

Slightly injured casualties

Because of the limited availability of detailed reliable road traffic estimates for Scotland, Table Ib shows the numbers of slight casualties (rather than slight casualty rates) for categories of road user. The table also shows the overall total volume of traffic and the overall slight casualty rate.

Table Ib shows that slight injuries per million vehicle kilometres are 57 per cent below the 2004-2008 average.

The number of slight casualties has fallen compared to the baseline for all modes of transport. The largest reductions are seen for pedestrian, bus / coach and motorcycle, 60 per cent, 72 and 49 per cent respectively. Car users make up almost two thirds of slight casualties and there has been a reduction of 53% compared to the baseline period. Pedal cycles on the other hand have shown a 23 per cent decrease on the 2004-2008 average.

4. Other statistics for monitoring progress

Table 40 in the main section of this publication shows the baseline figures for each local authority area for the four targets relating to numbers killed and seriously injured (separately for trunk roads, local authority roads and all roads), along with the corresponding figures for each of the past 10 years and the latest five years' averages. Table 41 provides figures for each local authority area related to the numbers slightly injured, and Table 42 shows figures for each Police Force division related to all five targets. In addition, many other tables include the 2004-2008 baseline averages.

5. Assessing progress towards the casualty reduction targets

One way of assessing progress towards the targets is to compare actual casualty numbers in each year with an indicative line that starts at the baseline figure in 2006 (mid point of the 2004 to 2008 average) and falls, by a constant percentage reduction in each subsequent year, to the milestone for 2015 and from there to the target for 2020. This is the approach adopted by the GB Road Safety Advisory Panel. The indicative line starts at the baseline figure in 2006 as that is the middle year of the baseline period. Other approaches could have been used: there are many ways of producing lines that indicate how casualty numbers might fall fairly steadily to the targets for 2020.

The method adopted to produce the indicative target lines shown in Figure 8 involves a constant percentage reduction in each year after 2006 to the 2015 milestone, then a constant percentage reduction between 2015 and 2020. The resulting indicative target lines represent the percentages of the baseline averages which are shown in the table below. They are not straight lines, because of the compounding over the years effect of constant annual percentage reductions (to two decimal places, the falls are: 3.89% per annum for killed to meet the 2015 milestone and 3.02% between 2015 and 2020). For seriously injured casualties the falls are 6.06% and 4.61%. For child killed 4.67% and 4.37% or children seriously injured 7.41% and 6.90%.

Table Ia Constant percentage reductions needed to achieve 2015 and 2020 targets

Killed

Serious

Child killed

Child serious

% baseline (milestone from 2015)

% reduction from baseline (milestone)

% baseline (milestone from 2015)

% reduction from baseline (milestone)

% baseline (milestone from 2015)

% reduction from baseline (milestone)

% baseline (milestone from 2015)

% reduction from baseline (milestone)

2006

100%

100%

100%

100%

2007

96.1%

3.9%

93.9%

6.1%

95.3%

4.7%

92.6%

7.4%

2008

92.4%

7.6%

88.3%

11.7%

90.9%

9.1%

85.7%

14.3%

2009

88.8%

11.2%

82.9%

17.1%

86.6%

13.4%

79.4%

20.6%

2010

85.3%

14.7%

77.9%

22.1%

82.6%

17.4%

73.5%

26.5%

2011

82.0%

18.0%

73.2%

26.8%

78.7%

21.3%

68.0%

32.0%

2014

78.8%

21.2%

68.7%

31.3%

75.0%

25.0%

63.0%

37.0%

2013

75.8%

24.2%

64.6%

35.4%

71.5%

28.5%

58.3%

41.7%

2014

72.8%

27.2%

60.7%

39.3%

68.2%

31.8%

54.0%

46.0%

2015

70.0%

30.0%

57.0%

43.0%

65.0%

35.0%

50.0%

50.0%

2015

100%

100%

100%

100%

2018

97.0%

3.0%

95.4%

4.6%

95.6%

4.4%

93.1%

6.9%

2017

94.1%

5.9%

91.0%

9.0%

91.5%

8.5%

86.7%

13.3%

2018

91.2%

8.8%

86.8%

13.2%

87.5%

12.5%

80.7%

19.3%

2019

88.5%

11.5%

82.8%

17.2%

83.7%

16.3%

75.1%

24.9%

2020

85.8%

14.2%

79.0%

21.0%

80.0%

20.0%

69.9%

30.1%

Table Ib: Reported killed casualties by mode of transport
Pedestrian Pedal cycle Motor cycle Car Bus/coach Goods1 Other2 All road users
2004-08 average 65 9 42 162 1 12 2 292
2011 43 7 33 89 1 9 3 185
2012 59 9 21 73 1 13 - 176
2013 38 13 23 89 2 5 2 172
2014 59 8 30 94 1 2 9 203
2015 44 5 27 75 1 13 3 168
2016 32 8 30 106 3 6 6 191
2017 38 5 29 64 2 3 4 145
2018 34 6 33 75 2 5 6 161
14-18 ave 41 6 30 83 2 6 6 174
2020 target 39 6 25 97 0 7 1 175
Percent changes:
2018 on 2017 -11 20 14 17 - 67 50 11
2018 on 2004-08 average -47 -35 -21 -54 150 -57 150 -45
Reported seriously injured casualties by mode of transport
Pedestrian Pedal cycle Motor cycle Car Bus/coach Goods1 Other2 All road users
2004-08 average 656 134 371 1,258 55 82 51 2,605
2011 515 156 291 758 51 63 44 1,878
2012 461 169 343 847 44 68 49 1,981
2013 401 149 281 718 34 45 39 1,667
2014 420 159 327 686 28 50 31 1,701
2015 424 164 258 638 49 46 23 1,602
2016 397 148 268 762 42 54 26 1,697
2017 380 171 281 662 23 45 32 1,594
2018 362 156 283 667 35 53 26 1,582
14-18 ave 397 160 283 683 35 50 28 1,635
2020 target 295 60 167 566 25 37 23 1,172
Percent changes:
2018 on 2017 -5 -9 1 1 52 18 -19 -1
2018 on 2004-08 average -45 16 -24 -47 -36 -35 -49 -39
Reported children (0-15) killed by mode of transport
Pedestrian Pedal cycle Motor cycle Car Bus/coach Goods1 Other2 All road users
2004-08 average 6 2 0 6 - 0 0 15
2011 2 - - 5 - - - 7
2012 1 1 - - - - - 2
2013 5 2 - 2 - - - 9
2014 3 - - 4 - - - 7
2015 3 1 - - - - - 4
2016 3 1 1 7 - - - 12
2017 2 - - - - - - 2
2018 2 - - - - - 1 3
14-18 ave 3 0 0 2 - - 0 6
2020 target 3 1 0 3 - 0 0 8
16-18 ave 2 0 0 2 - - 0 6
Percent changes:
16-2018 on 2004-08 average -61 -86 -17 -62 - -100 67 -63
Reported child (0-15) seriously injured casualties by mode of transport
Pedestrian Pedal cycle Motor cycle Car Bus/coach Goods1 Other2 All road users
2004-08 average 218 29 8 62 3 1 3 325
2011 139 23 2 34 4 - 1 203
2012 132 21 1 34 1 5 - 194
2013 91 11 1 33 3 - 2 141
2014 116 18 4 27 2 1 3 171
2015 97 11 1 27 2 - 2 140
2016 105 8 4 46 2 2 - 167
2017 107 10 4 29 - 3 - 153
2018 96 15 1 29 - - 1 142
14-18 ave 104 12 3 32 1 1 1 155
2020 target 76 10 3 22 1 0 1 114
Percent changes:
2018 on 2017 -10 50 -75 - n/a -100 n/a -7
2018 on 2004-08 average -56 -49 -87 -53 -100 -100 -71 -56
Reported slight casualties by mode of transport
Pedestrian Pedal cycle Motor cycle Car Bus/coach Goods1 Other2 All road users Traffic Slight casualty rate
numbers mill veh-km per 100 mill veh-km
2004-08 average 2,135 613 637 9,187 693 503 431 14,200 43,736 32.47
2011 1,507 661 482 6,930 453 385 304 10,722 43,390 24.71
2012 1,459 727 503 6,745 396 411 314 10,555 43,549 24.24
2013 1,295 724 471 6,157 358 391 257 9,653 43,840 22.02
2014 1,266 728 469 6,006 262 402 265 9,398 44,839 20.96
2015 1,222 628 450 6,000 282 411 214 9,207 45,374 20.29
2016 1,233 634 411 5,829 257 413 232 9,009 46,459 19.39
2017 945 552 310 4,981 332 354 220 7,694 47,986 16.03
2018 857 475 324 4,337 193 334 148 6,668 48,137 13.85
13-17 ave 1,105 603 393 5,431 265 383 216 8,395 45,341 18.52
2020 target 29.22
Percent changes:
2018 on 2017 -9 -14 5 -13 -42 -6 -33 -13 0 -14
2018 on 2004-08 average -60 -23 -49 -53 -72 -34 -66 -53 10 -57

1. Light goods vehicles and heavy goods vehicles.

2. Taxis, minibuses and other modes of transport

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