Commentary

Commentary

Figure 1 Reported accidents by severity, 1966 to 2019

Commentary

1. Trends in the reported numbers of Injury Road Accidents and Casualties

1.1 Main Points

This year, Police Scotland has started to use a new accident recording system. The introduction of this new system has changed the way casualty severity is recorded and, as a result, comparisons of the number of serious and slight casualties to earlier years should be made with caution. This publication includes adjusted figures in tables 1a and 1b, produced by the Department for Transport, that allow users to make comparisons to previous years. Other breakdowns, such as severity by mode of transport and type of road, are presented on the basis of the unadjusted figures as reported by Police Scotland.

Table 1 shows the long-term trends in the reported numbers of injury road accidents and casualties, the population of Scotland, the number of vehicles licensed, the length of the road network and the volume of traffic. Information on the severities of the accidents, and of the injuries suffered by the casualties, is provided in Table 2. The numbers of injury road accidents were first recorded separately in 1966, while the numbers of casualties are available back to 1938, with annual collection of data starting in 1950. Figures 1 to 7 illustrate the trends in the reported numbers of injury road accidents and casualties including (in some cases) indications of the likely range of random year–to-year variations (see section 1.4). As mentioned in the introduction, injury accidents not reported by the public to the police won’t appear in the returns. Note that each accident will result in one or more casualties. For example a fatal accident could result in two fatalities and a serious injury which would count as one accident and 3 casualties.

Accidents

• In 2019, there were 158 fatal accidents, 8 (5%) more than in 2018.
• In 2019 there were 1,729 serious injury accidents.
• In 2019 there were 3,835 slight injury accidents.

Casualties

• There were 165 people killed in road accidents in Scotland in 2019, 4 (2%) more than in 2018.
• 2,016 people were seriously injured in road accidents in 2019.
• 5,457 people were slightly injured in road accidents in 2019.
• There were a total number of 7,638 casualties in 2019 – 786 (9%) fewer than in 2018.

The reductions in the numbers of accidents and casualties in recent years are notable particularly given the rise in vehicle and subsequent traffic; e.g. in 2019 the number of vehicles licensed in Scotland was about thirteen per cent higher than in 2009 and traffic on Scottish roads was estimated to have grown by ten per cent since 2009.

1.2 Reported Accidents

In 1966 there were just over 23,200 injury road accidents and the annual total remained around this level until 1973. Numbers then dropped considerably in 1974 and 1975 to about 20,600. This was the time of a fuel crisis when a national speed limit of 50 mph was introduced and the volume of traffic in Great Britain fell by 3% in 1974. Accident numbers increased again in 1976 and reached a peak of nearly 23,100 in 1979.

In the early 1980s numbers began to fall, and did so particularly sharply in 1983 when the total number of injury accidents fell by 7% in a single year to 19,400, serious accidents fell by 13% to just over 6,400, and fatal accidents fell by 11% to 568. The 1981 Transport Act came into force in 1983 and changed the law relating to drink driving, with the introduction of evidential breath testing. Compulsory front seatbelt wearing and new procedures for licensing learner motorcyclists were also introduced in 1983. After 1983 the total number of injury accidents increased again to over 20,600 in 1985, and the number of serious accidents rose to just over 6,500 while fatal accidents continued a downward trend.

By 1987 the total number of injury accidents had fallen to under 18,700, but in 1989 it rose to just over 20,600. 1989 was the most recent peak in the total number of injury accidents. Since 1989, the total number of injury accidents has fallen in 27 out of 30 years, and in 2019 it was at the lowest level ever recorded. The 2019 figure of 5,722 was 710 less than in 2018.

Since the late 1980s, the number of fatal accidents has fallen considerably e.g. from 517 in 1987 to 150 in 2018. For serious accidents, the trend has also been downwards. The number of serious accidents has fallen e.g. from 5,814 in 1989 to 1,369 in 2018. The number of slight accidents did not share such a clear downward trend between 1970 and 1998, oscillating between 12,000 and 15,000 with a recent peak level of 14,443 in 1990. However, they fell below 12,000 in 1999, and the 2018 figure of 4,904 was the lowest since slight accident numbers were first recorded in 1970.

As outlined in section 1.1, Police Scotland’s move to CRASH, an injury-based reporting system, has resulted in changes in severity reporting. Table 1a provides adjusted figures to show how many slight and serious accidents there would have been in previous years if they had been recorded using an injury-based reporting system. These experimental statistics, produced by the Department for Transport, make it possible to compare the most recent statistics to previous years. On the basis of the adjusted figures, the number of serious accidents in 2019 increased by 11.7% on 2018, and the number of slight accidents decreased by 11.5%.

Table 1a DfT serious/slight adjusted and unadjusted accidents, 2004 to 2019

	DfT adjusted serious	DfT adjusted Slight	Dft unadjusted Serious	Dft unadjusted Slight	DfT Serious/Slight total
2004-08 average	4,542	8,129	2,212	10,458	12,670
2004	4,786	8,780	2,313	11,253	13,566
2005	4,729	8,386	2,238	10,877	13,115
2006	4,605	8,107	2,240	10,472	12,712
2007	4,268	7,816	2,028	10,056	12,084
2008	4,320	7,555	2,241	9,634	11,875
2009	4,063	7,277	1,998	9,342	11,340
2010	3,502	6,596	1,709	8,389	10,098
2011	3,440	6,348	1,668	8,120	9,788
2012	3,489	6,021	1,714	7,796	9,510
2013	3,089	5,709	1,420	7,378	8,798
2014	3,112	5,500	1,481	7,131	8,612
2015	3,023	5,275	1,419	6,879	8,298
2016	2,991	5,168	1,428	6,731	8,159
2017	2,663	4,252	1,365	5,550	6,915
2018	2,541	3,706	1,367	4,880	6,247
2019	2,244	3,280	1,715	3,809	5,524
2019 change on 2018	-11.7	-11.5			-11.6
2019 change on 04-08 average	-50.6	-59.6			-56.4

Source: Department for Transport.
The unadjusted figures in this table are National Statistics
The adjusted figures in this table are Experimental Statistics

Unadjusted figures in this table may not match those in other tables in this publication as DfT close their database each year but Transport Scotland keep theirs open.

Figures for serious and slight injuries are as reported by police. Since 2016, changes in severity reporting systems for a large number of police forces mean that serious injury figures, and to a lesser extent slight injuries, are not comparable with earlier years. Adjustments to account for the change have been produced.

More information on the change and the adjustment process is available at the following address.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/833813/annex-update-severity-adjustments-methodology.pdf

Table 1b DfT serious/slight adjusted and unadjusted casualties, 2004 to 2019

	DfT adjusted serious	DfT adjusted Slight	Dft unadjusted Serious	Dft unadjusted Slight	DfT Serious/Slight total
2004-2008 ave	5,296	11,382	2,587	14,091	16,677
2004	5,662	12,421	2,741	15,342	18,083
2005	5,553	11,921	2,643	14,831	17,474
2006	5,365	11,447	2,614	14,198	16,812
2007	4,939	10,818	2,364	13,393	15,757
2008	4,959	10,302	2,571	12,690	15,261
2009	4,667	10,038	2,281	12,424	14,705
2010	4,033	9,083	1,964	11,152	13,116
2011	3,872	8,697	1,871	10,698	12,569
2012	3,986	8,412	1,956	10,442	12,398
2013	3,540	7,753	1,662	9,631	11,293
2014	3,510	7,517	1,691	9,336	11,027
2015	3,408	7,363	1,597	9,174	10,771
2016	3,473	7,200	1,693	8,980	10,673
2017	3,063	6,147	1,577	7,633	9,210
2018	2,933	5,282	1,580	6,635	8,215
2019	2,611	4,807	1,998	5,420	7,418
2019 change on 2018	-11.0	-9.0			-9.7
2019 change on 04-08 average	-50.7	-57.8			-55.5

Source: Department for Transport.
The unadjusted figures in this table are National Statistics
The adjusted figures in this table are Experimental Statistics

Unadjusted figures in this table may not match those in other tables in this publicationas DfT close their database each year but Transport Scotland keep theirs open.Figures for serious and slight injuries are as reported by police. Since 2016, changes in severity reporting systems for a large number of police forces mean that serious injury figures, and to a lesser extent slight injuries,are not comparable with earlier years. Adjustments to account for the change have been produced.

More information on the change and the adjustment process is available at the following address.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/833813/annex-update-severity-adjustments-methodology.pdf

Figure A DfT Adjusted/unadjusted serious casualties, 2004 to 2019

Source: Department for Transport.
The unadjusted figures in this chart are National Statistics
The adjusted figures in this chart are Experimental Statistics

Figure B DfT Adjusted/unadjusted slight casualties, 2004 to 2019

Source: Department for Transport.
The unadjusted figures in this chart are National Statistics
The adjusted figures in this chart are Experimental Statistics

1.3 Reported Casualties

As the numbers of accidents have fallen, so have the numbers of casualties. Therefore, this section does not repeat the previous section’s detailed analysis of how the numbers have changed. Details can be found in Table 2.

Numbers killed

In 2019 there were 165 people killed in road accidents in Scotland, an increase of 2% on 2018. With a few exceptions, figures fell in each year since 1978, showing a clear, steady long-term downward trend, particularly between 1982 and 1994. Since then, figures have been fluctuating around a less pronounced downwards trend. The number in 2019 was below the average for the previous five years (166).

Numbers seriously injured

In 2019 there were 2,016 people seriously injured in road accidents. The long-term trend shows that the number of serious casualties peaked in the early 1970s at around 10,000 and generally fell since the early 1980s. The long-term downward trend appeared to level off at around 4,050 in the mid to late nineties, but the downward trend subsequently resumed. Table 1b provides adjusted figures to show how many serious casualties there would have been in previous years if they had been recorded using an injury-based reporting system. These experimental statistics, produced by the Department for Transport, make it possible to compare the most recent statistics to previous years. On the basis of the adjusted figures, the number of people seriously injured in 2019 increased by 11% on 2018.

Numbers slightly injured

In 2019 there were 5,457 people slightly injured. Between 1970 and 1990, the figures fluctuated between 17,000 and 21,000. The fall between 1990 and 1995 was followed by an apparent levelling-off at around 17-18,000 in each of the years from 1996 to 1999. However, 2000 to 2018 showed consecutive falls suggesting a continuing downward trend. Table 1b provides adjusted figures to show how many slight casualties there would have been in previous years if they had been recorded using an injury-based reporting system. On the basis of the adjusted figures, the number of people slightly injured in road accidents in 2019 decreased by 9% on 2018. Figure B shows how the adjusted and non-adjusted figures compare since 2004.

Total numbers of casualties

In 2019 there was a total of 7,638 casualties, 786 (9%) fewer than in 2018 (the lowest number recorded). Between about 1970 and 1990, the figures fluctuated around a general downward trend. Subsequently, the casualty figures fell markedly from the level of the most recent short-term peak (over 27,000 in both 1989 and 1990), before appearing to level off. However, the downward trend resumed from 1999 to 2019.

Government targets for reductions in the numbers of road accident casualties

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.

Figure 2 Scottish fatal reported road accidents: 1972 onwards
showing likely range of values (see text) around 5-year moving average

Figure 3 Scottish reported road accident deaths: 1949 onwards
showing likely range of values (see text) around 5-year moving average

Article 1 provides details of progress against the Scottish national casualty reduction targets for 2020. It contains charts and tables for each of the five targets showing the main trends in casualty numbers in comparison to the 2004-08 baseline averages. It also shows the numbers that might be expected in each year up to 2020 if the targets were to be achieved by means of a constant percentage reduction in each year. As outlined in section 1.1, due to the changes in casualty severity reporting, progress against some of the targets is measured on the basis of adjusted figures provided by the Department for Transport. These estimates illustrate what the historical figures would have looked like if they had been recorded using CRASH.

Previous targets

In 1987 the UK Government adopted a target to reduce road casualties by one third from the 1981-85 annual average by the year 2000. The number of people killed on the roads in Scotland in 2000 was 49% below the 1981-85 average number of fatalities per year, and therefore the target of a one-third reduction by the year 2000 was exceeded for fatalities. For seriously injured casualties, the 2000 figure was 57% below the 1981-85 average, so the target was bettered for seriously injured casualties. However, the figure of 16,618 slight casualties in 2000 was only 9% below the 1981-85 average and so the target of a one-third reduction was not achieved for slight casualties. And, the total number of casualties in 2000 was 24% below the 1981-85 average, and therefore the target of a one-third reduction in the total number of casualties was not met.

In March 2000, the UK Government, the then Scottish Executive and the National Assembly for Wales announced a new national road safety strategy and casualty reduction targets for 2010. The number of people killed or seriously injured on the roads in Scotland in 2010 was 55% below the 1994-98 average, and therefore the target of a 40% reduction by the year 2010 was exceeded for fatalities. For children killed or seriously injured, the 2010 figure was 73% below the 1994-98 average, a greater reduction than the 2010 target of a 50% fall. The slight casualty rate of 25.67 casualties per 100 million vehicle kilometres in 2010 was 45% below the 1994-98 baseline average of 46.42 – a greater reduction than the 2010 target of a 10% fall.

1.4 The likely range of random year-to-year variation in some road accident and casualty numbers for Scotland as a whole (see Figures 2 to 5)

Because road accidents may occur at random, the numbers of accidents, and the numbers of casualties in those accidents, can fluctuate from year to year. Figures 2 to 5 show, for Scotland as a whole, the numbers of:

• fatal road accidents (1972 to 2019);
• road deaths (1949 to 2019);
• people killed or seriously injured (1950 to 2019);
• children killed or seriously injured (1981 to 2019).

The number of years covered by each chart reflects the availability of the relevant figures. The black dots are the values in each year, and the black lines indicate the year-to-year variation. The grey dashed lines show the likely range of random year-to-year variation in the figures: based on statistical theory, one would expect that only about 5% of years would have figures outwith these ranges. Appendix G describes how these ranges were produced: the limits of the likely ranges of values are calculated in a similar way to 95% confidence intervals. It also explains why they cannot be produced for all years. It should be noted that figures for combined fatal and serious, serious and slight severities cannot be compared to previous years due to changes in the way casualty severities were recorded in 2019.

Figure 4 Killed and seriously injured reported casualties
showing likely range of values (see text) around 5-year moving average

Figure 5 Reported child (0-15) casualties: killed or seriously injured
showing likely range of values (see text) around 5-year moving average

Fatal accidents, and deaths in road accidents (see Figures 2 and 3)

Figures 2 and 3 show that the number of fatal accidents is within its likely range of values in every year, and the number of road deaths is within its likely range of values in all but three years. These results are reasonable: one would expect a few years’ figures to be outside the likely range of random year-to-year variation, given that there are over 40 years’ figures for fatal accidents and over 60 years’ figures for road accident deaths. Figures 2 and 3 therefore show that, despite the large percentage changes such as the falls in deaths of 19% between 1998 and 1999, and of 13% between 2001 and 2002, the figures almost always remain within the expected ranges. Hence, one should not put too much weight on a single large percentage change.

Killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties (see Figure 4)

Figure 4 has many years’ figures (around a third) outwith the calculated likely range of values. The reason for this is that statistical variability is not the only reason for year-to-year changes – other factors have contributed to sharp falls and rises in KSI casualty numbers. For example, the sharp fall shown in 1983 may be partly due to the introduction of seat belt wearing (for drivers and front seat passengers in most cars and light vans). Similarly, the sharp rise in 1994 may be due in part to the change in hospital practices where more casualties were kept in overnight for observation.

Such factors change the underlying rate of occurrence of accidents and/or casualties, and therefore, in effect, introduce a break into the series of moving average values. The method used to calculate the likely range of random variation cannot take account of the effect of such changes.

Only Figure 4 has figures outwith the calculated interval due to the likely ranges of random year-to-year variation calculated for small numbers being quite wide in percentage terms. This is because, for a Poisson process (see Appendix G), by definition, the greater the frequency of occurrence of events, the smaller the proportion that the standard deviation of the frequency (which is the square root of that number) represents of that number. For example:

• with 100 cases, the square root is 10 – or 10% of the value;
• with 400 cases, the square root is 20 – 5% of the value;
• with 10,000 cases, the square root is 100 – only 1% of the value.

As a result, if a factor (like the introduction of the compulsory wearing of front seat belts) were to cause the same percentage fall in each of the four types of accident and casualty numbers used in the charts, the following might be observed. The percentage fall could be within the relatively wide percentage range of likely random variation around the smaller numbers, but outwith the relatively narrow percentage range of likely random variation around the larger numbers. The ranges in Figures 2, 3 and 5 appear to be sufficiently wide to encompass the effects of changes such as those mentioned above. That is, the effects of the changes in their first years may fall within the likely range of random variation.

Of course, over the longer-term, such changes should make significant contributions to the reductions in casualty numbers and their severity. However, the intervals in Figure 4 include a much smaller than expected proportion of the figures. This is because the likely range of random variation for KSI casualties represents only a small percentage of the total, and factors like those mentioned above appear to have had a greater percentage effect than was seen in their first years.

Children killed or seriously injured (see Figure 5)

Figure 5 shows the year-to-year fluctuations in the numbers of children killed or seriously injured (for the years for which figures are readily available) are generally within the expected ranges. The exceptions are around 1994, when health boards’ policies changed, with the result that more child casualties were admitted to hospitals for overnight observation. This changed the classification of many injuries from slight to serious.

When changes in operational practice or to administrative processes have a marked effect on the statistics, the resulting year-to-year changes can be much greater than those expected due to normal random year-to-year variation – so it is not surprising there are figures outwith the expected ranges around 1994.

2. Reported Accidents

2.1 Accidents by road type and severity (see Table 4)

Table 4 shows separate figures for trunk roads and local authority roads. Trunk roads accounted for a minority of the total number of accidents in 2019: 32% of fatal accidents, 19% of serious accidents, and 18% of all accidents. The trunk road network’s share of accident numbers in previous years were broadly similar.

Accident trends for different types of road will be affected by developments in the surrounding area (new city and town bypasses, construction of new roads with high average traffic flows etc.) Therefore, figures do not provide an accurate measure of the comparative change in the road safety performance of different types of road.

Several changes were made to the trunk road network with effect from 1^st April 1996. Appendix E refers to them, and explains why the 1994-98 averages for trunk roads and for local authority major roads have been calculated by counting accidents which occurred prior to 1^st April 1996 on the basis of whether they occurred on roads which were part of the post- 1 April 1996 trunk road network.

2.2 Accident rates (see Table 5)

Accident rates showing the number of accidents per 100 million vehicle kilometres are contained in parts (b) and (c) of table 5. These are calculated by dividing the numbers of accidents on each type of road by the estimated volumes of traffic on those roads, which were provided by the Department for Transport, and which are available for all types of road with effect from 1993. The five-year average accident rates were calculated by dividing the total number of accidents which occurred in each five-year period by the total of the estimated volumes of traffic for the same period, rather than by calculating the averages of the individual accident rates for the five years.

Accident rates have fallen markedly since the early 1990s. The overall fatal accident rate has dropped from 0.66 per 100 million vehicle kilometres in 2005 to 0.32 in 2019 and the overall accident rate (all severities) reduced from 29.71 per 100 million vehicle kilometres to 11.75. Motorways had consistently lower accident rates than A roads. Leaving aside the relatively low rate for fatal accidents, minor roads (taken together as a group) tend to have higher accident rates than major roads, and accident rates tend to be higher for built-up roads (roads with speed limits of up to 40 mph) than for non built-up roads (ones with higher speed limits).

Part C of the table shows that estimated accident rates vary considerably by police force area. Some of this variation may be attributed to the distribution of traffic by road type within individual areas.

Figure 6

2.3 Accidents by month by road type (see Table 6)

The numbers of injury accidents over the years 2015-2019 were fairly evenly spread throughout the year, with minor peaks in August and November. (Months are standardised to 30 days to allow comparison)

On average, there were 13 fatal accidents per month in the years 2015 to 2019. The number did not vary greatly between the months: the lowest average was 10, and the highest was 16.

2.4 Accidents by light condition and road surface condition (see Table 7)

The light and road surface conditions and the type of road (e.g. built-up) contribute to the severity of an accident. Severity rates are higher on non built-up roads than on built-up roads, likely due to the higher average speed. Severity rates are also higher in darkness than in daylight, likely due to poorer visibility.

For example, taking the annual averages for 2015-2019, 4.9% of injury road accidents on non built-up roads in darkness (33 out of 674) resulted in one or more deaths compared with 1.5% of accidents on built-up roads in darkness (18 out of 1,202) and 4% of accidents on non built-up roads in daylight (77 out of 1,925).

2.5 Car driver accident rates (see Table 18b)

This table includes all car drivers involved in injury accidents regardless of whether they were injured or not, on the basis of whatever information is known about their ages and their sex. For example, someone whose sex was known, but whose age was not known, will be included in the all ages total for the appropriate sex. The grand total includes those for whom neither the age nor the sex was known.

As the car driver accident rates shown for each sex and age group are on a per head of population basis, rather than based on the numbers of driving licence holders or on the distance driven, they can provide only a general indication of the relative accident rates for each group. The statistics do not provide a measure of the relative risk of each group as car drivers, because they do not take account of the differing levels of car driving by each group.

Age & Gender

Car driver accident rates per head of population vary markedly by age and sex. In 2019, the overall rate was 1.6 accidents per thousand population aged 17+. The peak occurs for males in the 17-25 age group, with a rate of 2.5 per thousand population in 2019. This rate is almost one and a half times those of females of the same age (1.9 per thousand in 2019).

The overall male car driver accident rate in 2019 was 1.9 per thousand population; slightly lower than 2018 with rates for all age groups being lower than the previous year. The overall female car driver accident rate in 2019 was 1.2 per thousand population and all age groups except 60+ showed decreases from the previous year.

Between 2009 and 2019, the male car driver accident rate fell from 4.2 to 1.9 per thousand population, while the female car driver accident rate has declined slowly from 2.4 to 1.2 per thousand in 2019. As a result, the overall, ratio of male to female car driver accident rates has fallen from 1.8 : 1 for 2009 to 1.6 : 1 in 2019.

Figure 7 Reported casualties: 5 year moving average
(1947-51 to 2015-19)

Due to changes in the the way casualty severities are recorded, serious and slight figures in 2019 are not comparable with previous years.

3. Reported Casualties

3.1 Casualties by type of road (see Table 23)

In 2019, non built-up roads accounted for two-fifths of the total number of casualties (42%: 3,203 out of 7,638). However, because speeds are higher on non built-up roads than elsewhere (the definition is roads with a speed limit of more than 40mph), they accounted for almost three quarters of those killed (68%: 112 out of 165) and for just under half of the total number of seriously injured (48%: 961 out of 2,016).

Compared with 2009, the fall in the total number of casualties has been 52% for non built-up roads and 47% for those elsewhere. The difference in the numbers killed on non built-up roads is higher than those on built-up ones (down by 27% for non built-up roads compared with a reduction of 16% elsewhere). Over the years, some traffic will have been transferred away from built-up roads by the opening of city and town bypasses, and by the construction of non built-up roads with higher average traffic volumes. Therefore, these figures do not provide an accurate measure of the comparative change in the road safety performance of built-up and non built-up roads.

3.2 Casualties by mode of transport (see Table 23)

A total of 4,581 car users were injured in road accidents in 2019, representing 60% of all casualties. Of these car users, 75 died. There were 1,250 pedestrian casualties (16% of the total), of whom 44 died, 572 pedal cycle casualties (7% of the total), of whom 10 died, and 520 motorcycle casualties (7% of the total), of whom 25 died. Because of the numbers of car user, pedestrian, pedal cyclist and motorcyclist casualties, the figures for each of these four groups of road users are the subject of separate sections, which follow this one, and are followed by a section on child casualties, which gives details of their modes of transport.

Together, all the modes of transport other than the four mentioned above accounted for 714 casualties in 2019 (9% of the total), and for smaller percentages of the numbers of seriously injured. These included 195 bus and coach users injured in 2019, of whom 23 suffered serious injuries (three died). There were also 244 casualties who were travelling in light goods vehicles(4 died), 51 people in heavy goods vehicles(2 died), 138 users of taxis(none died), 24 users of minibuses(none died) and 62 people with another means of transport(2 died).

3.3 Car user casualties

A total of 4,581 car users were injured in road accidents in 2019, representing 60% of all casualties. Of these people, a total of 938 were seriously injured, 75 died. Non built-up roads accounted for just over a half of all car user casualties (54%: 2,488 out of 4,581). Perhaps because average speeds are higher on non-built up roads, they accounted for much higher percentages of the total numbers of car users who were killed (92%: 69 out of 75) or were seriously injured (71%: 663 out of 938). (see Table 23)

The number of car users killed in 2019 was the same as the 2018 figure and the total number of casualties of all severities was down by 10%. Since 2009, the number killed has dropped by 35%, and there has been a fall of 52% in the total number of car user casualties. (see Table 23)

Looking at the annual average over the years 2015-2019, the casualty rate for 16-22 year old car users was 2.17 per thousand population. This was much higher than the rate for car users in the older age groups, which varied from 0.69 to 1.93 per thousand population. (see Table 32)

On average, over the years 2015-2019, 71% of car user fatalities occurred on roads with a speed limit of 60mph. Such roads accounted for 36% of the total number of car user casualties of all severities, where more casualties occurred on roads with a 30 mph limit (40%). (see Table 33)

Adult car users

On weekdays, the peak time for adult car user casualties was from 4pm to 6pm. The 5pm to 6pm average of 367 (the average over the years 2015-2019) was 37% higher than the average of 267 in the morning 8am to 9am peak. (see Table 28)

Adult car user casualties varied by month, with fewest in April and most in November. November had 16% more adult car user casualties than April (annual averages over the years 2015-2019; months standardised to 30 days). (see Table 29)

Friday had the peak numbers of adult car user casualties over the years 2015-2019 with 14% more than the average daily number of adult car user casualties. (see Table 30)

3.4 Pedestrian casualties

There were 1,250 pedestrian casualties in 2019: 16% of all casualties. Of these, 486 were seriously injured and 44 died. Presumably due to the number of pedestrians and because of their greater vulnerability, a higher proportion of the total number of people who were killed (27%) and seriously injured (24%) were pedestrians. In addition, 39% of pedestrian casualties were seriously injured (486 out of 1,250) compared with serious for all modes of 26% (2,016 out of 7,638). 95% of pedestrian casualties occurred on built-up roads (1,186 out of 1,250) in 2018. (see Table 23)

The overall number of pedestrian casualties was 0.5% lower than 2018. Since 2009, the number of pedestrians killed has fallen by 3 and there has been a 43% reduction in the total number of pedestrian casualties. Looking at the annual average for the period 2015 to 2019, the pedestrian fatality rate was highest for those aged 70+ (0.02 per thousand population). However, the 12-15 age-group had the highest ‘all severities’ pedestrian casualty rates (0.79 per thousand population). (see Tables 23 & 32)

The overall pedestrian ‘all severities’ casualty rate for males was 0.31 per thousand population, compared with 0.22 per thousand for females, using the averages for the period 2015 to 2019. (see Table 34)

Adult pedestrian casualties

On average in the period 2015 to 2019, the peak time for adult pedestrian casualties during the week was from 4pm to 6pm; at weekends it was from 4pm to 8pm. (see Table 28)

November and December were the peak months for adult pedestrian casualties, with each having 50% and 39% respectively more than the monthly average. Adult pedestrian casualties in the four winter months, November to February, were 30% more than the monthly average (annual averages over the years 2015-2019; months standardised to 30 days). (see Table 29)

Friday has the highest numbers of adult pedestrian casualties; 23% more than the daily average over the period 2015 to 2019. (see Table 30)

3.5 Pedal Cycle Casualties

There were 572 pedal cycle casualties in 2019, 66 less than the previous year. The number of seriously injured pedal cycle casualties in 2019 was 183. There were 10 pedal cycle fatalities in 2019, four more than 2018. Since 2009 there has been a 29% decrease in all pedal cycle casualties and the number of fatalities has fluctuated between 5 and 13. In 2019, 87% of pedal cycle casualties were on built-up roads (see Table 23). It should be noted that pedal cycle traffic ¹ is estimated to have increased by 29% since 2009.

In terms of the averages for the period 2015 to 2019, the pedal cycle casualty rate per head of population was highest for those aged 30-39 and 40-49 (both 0.21 per thousand population) and 23-25 and 26-29 (both 0.19 per thousand respectively). Of course, it must be remembered that, as noted earlier, per capita casualty rates do not provide a measure of the relative risk, because they do not take account of the levels of usage of (in this case) pedal cycles. (see Table 32)

Adult pedal cycle casualties

Using the averages for the period 2015 to 2019, on weekdays, the peak numbers of adult pedal cycle casualties occurred from 4 pm to 7 pm and from 9 am to 1 pm. At weekends the numbers were smaller, but appear to peak between 11 am to 12 mid-day. (see Table 28)

The peak months of the year for adult pedal cycle casualties were August and September which were 20-22% more than the monthly average (2015-2019 annual averages standardised to 30 days). (see Table 29)

The day of the week with the peak numbers of adult pedal cycle casualties was Thursday, 29% higher than the daily average, over the years 2015-2019. There were substantially fewer adult pedal cycle casualties on Sunday, 44% less than the daily average. (see Table 30)

¹ Scottish Transport Statistics chapter 5 table 5.3

3.6 Motorcyclist casualties

A total of 520 motorcyclists were injured in road accidents in 2019, representing 7% of all casualties. Of these, 279 were seriously injured and 25 died. 51% of all motorcyclist casualties occurred on non built-up roads but (perhaps because of their higher average speeds) such roads accounted for almost 61% of those seriously injured, and 76% of those killed. (see Table 23)

The number of motorcyclist casualties in 2019 was 19% lower than in the previous year and the number killed fell by 8. The total number of motorcycle casualties rose each year from 1999 to a peak in 2001; since then, it has tended to decline. As a result, the figure for all casualties in 2019 was 49% lower than in 2009. Eighteen fewer motorcyclists died in 2019 than in 2009. (see Table 23)

On average, over the years 2015 to 2019, the motorcyclist casualty rate was highest for the 23-25 age group (0.22 per thousand population) followed by the 16-22 year old age group (0.20 per thousand population); other age-groups had smaller casualty rates. (see Table 32)

Looking at the averages for the period 2015 to 2019, the peak time of day for adult motorcyclist casualties was 4pm to 6pm on weekdays (see Table 28), the peak months of the year were May(83 casualties) and June (84 casualties), amidst a general peak from May to September (see Table 29) and there were more casualties from Friday to Sunday than on any of the other days (see Table 30).

3.7 Child (0-15) casualties

There were 763 child casualties in 2019, representing 10% of the total number of casualties of all ages. Of the child casualties, 198 were seriously injured, and two died (see Table 24).

There was one less child killed in 2019 than in 2018. The total number of child casualties increased by 1% on 2018. Since 2009, the number of children killed has fallen by three. (see Table A and Table 25)

In terms of the averages for the period 2015 to 2019, on weekdays, the peak time for child casualties was from 3pm to 5pm, with 29% of all weekday casualties in those two hours. A further 27% occurred in the three hours between 5pm and 8pm There was another peak in the morning, between 8am and 9am There was no real clear peak at weekends: the numbers of casualties were very broadly the same each hour from 12 noon to 7pm (see Table 27)

August was the peak month for child casualties, with 22% more than in an average month. February had 7% and September 14% more than an average month. (2015-2019 annual averages standardised to 30 days). (see Table 29)

Using the averages for 2015 to 2019, Thursday was the peak day of the week for child casualties, with 17% more than an average day. Sunday, on the other hand, had 24% less than an average day. (see Table 30)

Child (0-15) casualties by mode of transport

In 2019, there were 333 child pedestrian casualties. They accounted for 27% of all pedestrian casualties of all ages (333 out of 1,250). Of the child pedestrian casualties, 123 were seriously injured and 2 died. (see Table 24)

There were 69 child pedal cycle casualties in 2019 (12% of the total of 572 pedal cycle casualties of all ages). The child pedal cycle casualties included 26 who were seriously injured, none died. (see Table 24)

In 2019, there were 304 child casualties in cars, 7% of the total number of car user casualties of all ages (304 out of 4,581). Of the child casualties in cars, 45 were seriously injured (none died). (see Tables 23 and 25)

Child (0-15) casualty rates (per head of population)

Children’s casualty rates (per head of population) increase with age: using the averages for the years 2015-2019 taken together, for children aged 0-4 the rate was 0.47 per thousand population, whereas it was 1.00 per thousand for those aged 5-11 and for the 12-15 age group it was 1.50 per thousand. The pedestrian casualty rate for younger children (0-4 years) was 47% of that for 5-11 and 31% of the 12-15 year old rate. (see Table 32)

The pedestrian casualty rate for boys in the 0-4 age group was more than twice that for girls. The difference between the sexes was even more pronounced in driver or rider casualty rates. (see Table 34)

The overall child pedestrian casualty rate at 0.44 per thousand child population was almost double the corresponding rate for adult pedestrian casualties. (see Table 32)

3.8 Casualty rates for local authority roads by local authority area, and the likely range of random year-to-year variation in these figures (see Appendix H)

Due to changes in the severity of casualties in 2019, we were unable to update the table and charts in Appendix H.

4. Motorists, breath testing and drink-driving

4.1 Breath testing of drivers (see Tables 19, 20 and 21)

These tables cover all motorists who were known to be involved in injury road accidents (excluding, for example, those untraced drivers involved in hit and run accidents). Here, a motorist is defined as the driver or the rider of a motor vehicle (including, for example, motorcyclists)

In 2019, 52% of motorists involved in injury accidents were asked for a breath test (this ranged from 42% to 68% across the police force divisions). The breath test proved positive (or the motorist refused to take the test) for 3.4% of those drivers breathalysed. This represented 1.7% of the total number of motorists involved in accidents (including those who were not asked for a breath test). There has been a general downward trend in these percentages in the last couple of years as seen in Table 19.

Tables 20 and 21 show the time and day of the accident (Table 20) and for a number of years (Table 21). Table 21 shows that, in 2019, of the 165 positive / refused cases, 41% occurred between 9 pm and 3 am (18% between 9 pm and midnight, plus 24% between midnight and 3 am). Table 20 shows that, using 2015 to 2019 averages, the number of positive / refused cases, expressed as a percentage of motorists involved in accidents, was highest (at around 13%) between midnight and 6 am, but varied depending upon the day of the week, from 7% (the average for 3 am to 6 am for Friday) to 16% (3 am to 6 am on Saturdays and Sundays). Table 20 shows that, although the period from 9 pm to midnight had the second highest number of positive / refused cases, the equivalent percentages were not as high, because between 9 pm and midnight there were many more motorists involved in accidents than between midnight and 3 am.

4.2 Drink-drive accidents and casualties (see Table 22)

Table 22 shows the estimates (made by the Department for Transport) of the numbers of injury road accidents involving illegal alcohol levels. They are higher than the number of drivers with positive breath test results (or who refused to take the breath test) as they include allowances for the numbers of cases where drivers were not breath tested because of the severity of their injuries, or because they left the scene of the accident. Information about blood alcohol levels of road users who died within 12 hours of being injured in a road accident is supplied by the Procurators Fiscal.

The estimates show that the numbers of drink-drive accidents and casualties both fell by 58% between 2008 and 2018 (the latest year for which estimates are available): from a rounded estimate of 660 to roughly 280 (accidents) and from around 960 to some 400 (casualties). While fluctuating from year to year, the number of people killed as a result of drink-drive accidents is estimated to be the two thirds of the number in 2018 (20) as it was in 2008. The number of serious casualties is estimated to have dropped by 60% (from roughly 170 in 2008 to some 70 in 2018).

5. Comparisons of Scottish figures against those of other countries

5.1 Casualty rates: against England & Wales (see Tables C to F on the pages which follow)

Historically, killed casualty rates per head of population in Scotland have been above those for England & Wales, whereas the serious and total casualty rate is usually lower in Scotland than in England & Wales. In 2019, Scotland’s casualty rates were 12% higher (killed), 8% lower (serious) and 43% lower (all severities).

Child rates

In 2019, the Scottish rates were 21% higher (serious) than those in England and Wales and 26% lower (all severities). In the case of all casualties this represented an improvement in Scotland’s figures relative to England & Wales (compared with the 2004-08 average).

Due to the relatively small number of fatalities a 5 year average is used for comparison here. In the period 2015-2019, child fatality rates in Scotland were on average 5% lower than England and Wales, however, in four of the five years the rates were lower.

It should be noted that the ratio of the fatality rates for Scotland and for England and Wales can fluctuate markedly from year to year, particularly for the child fatality rates due to the relatively small numbers in Scotland (which may be subject to year-to-year changes which are large in percentage terms). Therefore, subsequent paragraphs do not refer to the fatality rates for children using different modes of transport. In addition, it should be remembered the rates for some other sub-groups may be affected by year-to-year fluctuations: for example, the numbers are relatively small for most categories of child killed and seriously injured casualties in Scotland.

Mode of transport

The casualty rates of car users in Scotland have for many years been substantially higher than those of England & Wales for killed and seriously injured casualties, while for all severities the rate has been much lower. However, in 2019, Scotland’s car user fatality rate was 23% higher than that of England & Wales, the seriously injured rate was 13% higher and the all severity car user rate was 41% lower. For child car users, the seriously injured rate was 25% higher in Scotland and the all severities rate was 30% less than that of England and Wales.

In 2019, the pedestrian killed rate per thousand was 13% higher in Scotland than England & Wales, and the serious and all severities rates were 1% and 34% lower respectively. The child pedestrian casualty rates in Scotland were higher for killed (54%) and seriously injured (34%) but lower for all severities (15%) compared to those for England & Wales.

Pedal cyclists casualty rates (all ages) in Scotland were substantially lower than in England & Wales in 2019 for seriously injured (43% lower) and for all severities (62% lower). However, the child pedal cycle casualty serious rate was 34% higher and the all severities rate 15% lower in Scotland than in England & Wales. These differences may reflect the fact that, according to the National Travel Survey, on average, people in Scotland do not travel as far by bicycle as people in England and Wales.

Further information about the numbers of casualties in England and Wales, and for Great Britain as a whole, can be found in Reported Road Casualties Great Britain 2019^[1], which is published by the Department for Transport.

5.2 Road deaths: International comparison 2018 & 2019 (provisional) (see Tables G and H)

Introduction

This section compares Scotland’s road death rates in 2018 and 2019 (provisional) with the fatality rates of some countries in Western Europe and some developed countries world-wide. The comparisons involve a total of up to 44 countries (including Scotland, and count each of the UK, Great Britain, England, Wales and Northern Ireland as individual countries). The fatality rates were calculated on a per capita basis (the statistics given are rates per million population), and the countries were then listed in order of their fatality rates in Table G sections (a), (b), (c) and (d). In cases where two countries appear to have the same rate, the order takes account of decimal places which are not shown in the tables. A table of car user fatality rates which were calculated on a per motor vehicle basis is no longer shown due to a lack of consistent data.

Tables G and H were provided by the Department for Transport, which obtained the figures for foreign countries from the International Road Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD) Web site, the address of which is: http://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?r=528201&erroCode=403&lastaction=login_submit#

In accordance with the commonly agreed international definition, most countries define a fatality as being due to a road accident if death occurs within 30 days of the accident. However, the official road accident statistics of some countries limit the fatalities to those occurring within shorter periods after the accident. The numbers of deaths, and the death rates, which appear in the IRTAD tables take account of the adjustment factors used by the Economic Commission for Europe and the European Conference of Ministers of Transport to represent standardised 30-day numbers of deaths.

Latest Results

In 2019, Scotland’s provisional overall road death rate of 30 per million population was the eighth lowest of the 41 countries surveyed (counting each of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland as separate countries, but not counting the overall GB and UK figures).

Pedestrians

In 2018, Scotland’s pedestrian fatality rate was 6 per million population. Scotland ranked twelfth of the 42 countries for which figures are available (again counting Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland separately, and again not counting the GB and UK figures).

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2019

Car Users

When the car user fatality rate is calculated on a per capita basis, Scotland has a car user fatality rate of 14 per million population: the fifth lowest of 41 countries, again not counting the GB and UK figures.

Age

The fatality rates per head of population for up to 34 countries (including Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland as separate countries, but not counting the overall GB and UK figures) are shown, for each of four broad age-groups, in Table H. Again, the ordering takes account of decimal places not shown in the table. In most cases, Scotland has one of the lowest rates per capita. The Scottish rate is the second lowest for casualties aged 0-14. It was the lowest for those aged 15-24, fifth lowest for those aged 25-64 and eighth lowest for 65+ (in each case, not counting the overall GB and UK figures).

International comparisons of road safety are based on road death rates, as this is the only basis for which there is an international standard definition. As indicated above, the OECD IRTAD tables provide comparable figures for each country, after making adjustments to the data for countries which do not collect their figures on the standard basis. One should not try to compare different countries’ overall road accident casualty rates (i.e. the total numbers killed or injured, relative to the population of each country) because there is no internationally-adopted standard definition of an injury road accident. There are considerable differences between countries in the coverage of their injury road accident statistics. For example, many countries count only accidents which result in someone being admitted to hospital – so their figures would not include the kinds of accident which, in Britain, are classified as causing only slight injuries or certain types of serious injury. Because many countries’ definitions of injury road accidents are much narrower than the definition used in the UK, their reported numbers of injury road accidents will appear low relative to ours – so comparing the reported numbers of people injured in road accidents may provide a misleading impression of different countries’ road safety records.

Table C: Reported casualties in Scotland, England & Wales by severity

Number of casualties : All ages and child casualties
1. All Ages
	Scotland			England & Wales
	Killed	Serious	severities	Killed	Serious	severities
	(a) Numbers
2004-08 ave	292	2,605	17,097	3,016	28,513	257,789
2015	168	1,602	10,977	1,568	20,547	175,239
2016	191	1,698	10,898	1,601	22,407	170,501
2017	145	1,594	9,433	1,647	23,242	161,566
2018	161	1,584	8,424	1,624	23,931	152,203
2019 1	165	2,016	7,638	1,587	23,946	145,568
2015-2019 ave 1	166	..	9,474	1,605	22,815	161,015
	(b) Per cent changes:
2019 on 2018 1	2.5	..	-9.3	-2.3	0.1	-4.4
2019 on 2004-08 ave 1	-43.5	..	-55.3	-47.4	-16.0	-43.5
2015-19 ave. on 04-08 ave 1	-43.1	..	-44.6	-46.8	-20.0	-37.5
1. Due to changes in severity reporting, the number of serious casualties cannot be compared directly to those reported in previous years. These % change figures for serious casualties have therefore been omitted
2. Reported child casualties1
	(a) Numbers
2004-08 ave	15	325	2,019	144	3,169	26,090
2015	4	140	971	49	1,771	15,133
2016	12	167	999	57	1,864	14,963
2017	2	153	900	46	1,945	14,808
2018	3	142	754	45	1,948	13,502
2019 1	2	198	763	37	2,020	12,816
2015-2019 ave 1	5	..	877	49	1,882	14,602
	(b) Per cent changes:
2019 on 2018 1	-33.3	..	1.2	-17.8	3.7	-5.1
2019 on 2004-08 ave 1	-87.0	..	-62.2	-74.3	-36.3	-50.9
2015-19 ave. on 04-08 ave 1	-70.1	..	-56.5	-65.8	-40.6	-44.0

1. Due to changes in severity reporting, the number of serious casualties cannot be compared directly to those reported in previous years. These % change figures for serious casualties have therefore been omitted

Table D: Reported casualties in Scotland, England & Wales by severity

1. All Ages
	Scotland			England & Wales			Scotland % of England & Wales
	All			All			All
	Killed	Serious	severities	Killed	Serious	severities	Killed	Serious	severities
(a) Rates per 1,000 population							percentages
2004-08 ave	.06	.51	3.33	.06	.53	4.78	102	96	70
2015	.03	.30	2.04	.03	.35	3.03	115	84	67
2016	.04	.31	2.01	.03	.38	2.90	129	82	69
2017	.03	.29	1.74	.03	.40	2.75	95	74	63
2018	.03	.29	1.55	.03	.40	2.57	108	72	60
2019 1	.03	.37	1.40	.03	.40	2.45	113	92	57
2015-2019 ave 1	.03	..	1.75	.03	.39	2.74	112	..	64
	(b) Per cent changes:
2019 on 2018 1	2.0	..	-9.7	-2.8	-0.5	-4.9
2019 on 2004-08 ave 1	-46.8	..	-58.0	-52.2	-23.7	-48.7
2015-19 ave. on 04-08 ave 1	-46.1	..	-47.5	-51.1	-26.4	-42.6
1. Due to changes in severity reporting, the number of serious casualties cannot be compared directly to those reported in previous years. These % change figures for serious casualties have therefore been omitted
2. Reported child casualties 2
(a) Rates per 1,000 population							percentages
2004-08 ave	.02	.35	2.18	.01	.31	2.51	119	115	87
2015	.00	.15	1.06	.00	.16	1.38	98	95	77
2016	.01	.18	1.10	.01	.17	1.37	253	108	80
2017	.00	.17	.98	.00	.17	1.32	53	96	74
2018	.00	.15	.82	.00	.17	1.19	82	90	69
2019 1	.00	.21	.83	.00	.18	1.13	67	121	74
2015-2019 ave 1	.01	..	.96	.00	.17	1.31	114	..	73
(b) Per cent changes:
2019 on 2018 1	-33.5	..	1.0	-18.3	3.1	-5.7
2019 on 2004-08 ave 1	-86.9	..	-61.9	-76.6	-41.8	-55.2
2015-19 ave. on 04-08 ave 1	-69.8	..	-56.0	-68.3	-44.9	-48.0

1. Due to changes in severity reporting, the number of serious casualties cannot be compared directly to those reported in previous years. These % change figures for serious casualties have therefore been omitted

2. Child 0-15 years

Table E: Reported casualties in Scotland, England & Wales by mode of transport and severity, 2019 ¹

	Scotland			England & Wales
	All			All
	Killed	Serious	severities	Killed	Serious	severities
1. All ages
Pedestrian	44	486	1,250	424	5,332	20,527
Pedal cycle	10	183	572	92	3,516	16,319
Car	75	938	4,581	661	9,044	84,617
Bus/coach	3	23	195	11	271	2,890
Other	33	386	1,040	399	5,783	21,215
Total	165	2,016	7,638	1,587	23,946	145,568
2. Child casualties 2
Pedestrian	2	123	333	16	1,133	4,865
Pedal cycle	-	26	69	10	348	1,925
Car	-	45	304	9	443	5,396
Bus/coach	-	-	29	-	13	368
Other	-	4	28	2	83	262
Total	2	198	763	37	2,020	12,816

1. Due to changes in the the way casualty severities are recorded, figures for serious casualties in 2019 are not comparable with previous years.

2. Child 0-15 years

Table F: Reported casualties in Scotland, England & Wales by mode of transport and severity, 2019 ¹
Rate per 1,000 population : All ages and child casualties

	Scotland			England & Wales			Scotland % of England & Wales
	All			All			All
	Killed	Serious	severities	Killed	Serious	severities	Killed	Serious	severities
1. All ages									percentages
Pedestrian	.01	.09	.23	.01	.09	.35	113	99	66
Pedal cycle	.00	.03	.10	.00	.06	.27	118	57	38
Car	.01	.17	.84	.01	.15	1.42	123	113	59
Bus/coach	.00	.00	.04	.00	.00	.05	297	92	73
Other	.01	.07	.19	.01	.10	.36	90	73	53
Total	.03	.37	1.40	.03	.40	2.45	113	92	57
2. Child casualties 2
Pedestrian	.00	.13	.36	.00	.10	.43	154	134	85
Pedal cycle	-	.03	.07	.00	.03	.17	n/a	92	44
Car	-	.05	.33	.00	.04	.47	n/a	125	70
Bus/coach	-	-	.03	-	.00	.03	n/a	n/a	97
Other	-	.00	.03	.00	.01	.02	n/a	60	132
Total	.00	.21	.83	.00	.18	1.13	67	121	74

1. Due to changes in the the way casualty severities are recorded, figures for serious casualties in 2019 are not comparable with previous years.

2. Child 0-15 years

Table G: Fatality rates per capita, for (a) All road users 2018 and 2019 provisional;
ranked by respective rates: International Comparisons ^1,2

(a) All road users 2019 (Provisional 3 )				(b) All road users 2018
		Per million population				Per million population
	Numbers killed	Rate	Index		Numbers killed	Rate	Index
Iceland	6	17	56	Norway	108	20	69
Norway	108	20	67	England	1,521	27	92
Switzerland	187	22	72	Switzerland	233	27	93
Sweden	221	22	72	Great Britain	1,785	28	93
England	1,489	26	88	United Kingdom	1,840	28	94
Great Britain	1,752	27	89	Northern Ireland	55	29	99
United Kingdom	1,808	27	90	Scotland	161	30	100
Ireland	141	29	95	Denmark	175	30	102
Northern Ireland	56	30	98	Ireland	148	31	103
Scotland	165	30	100	Sweden	324	32	108
Wales	98	31	103	Wales	103	33	111
Japan	3,920	31	103	Japan	4,166	33	111
Malta	16	32	107	Israel	316	36	120
Denmark	199	34	113	Malta	18	38	128
Luxembourg	22	36	119	Spain	1,806	39	131
Germany	3,046	37	121	Netherlands	678	39	133
Spain	1,755	37	124	Germany	3,275	40	134
Finland	209	38	125	Finland	225	41	138
Netherlands	661	38	127	Slovakia	229	42	142
Israel	355	39	129	Slovenia	91	44	149
Estonia	52	39	130	Australia	1,145	46	155
Slovakia	245	44	147	Austria	409	46	157
Australia	1,195	47	155	Canada	1,804	49	164
Austria	416	47	155	France	3,259	49	164
France	3,239	48	160	Estonia	67	51	172
Slovenia	102	49	162	Iceland	18	52	174
Italy	3,130	52	172	Belgium	604	53	179
Belgium	646	56	187	Italy	3,310	55	185
Czech Republic	617	58	192	Portugal	606	59	199
Cyprus	52	59	197	Luxembourg	36	60	202
Portugal	621	60	200	Lithuania	170	61	204
Hungary	603	62	204	Cyprus	53	61	207
Republic of Korea	3,349	65	214	Czech Republic	656	62	209
Greece	696	65	215	Greece	690	64	217
Lithuania	184	66	218	Hungary	629	64	217
Latvia	132	69	228	Republic of Korea	3,781	73	247
New Zealand	353	72	238	Poland	2,862	75	255
Croatia	297	73	241	Latvia	148	77	258
Poland	2,904	76	253	Croatia	317	77	261
Serbia	534	77	254	New Zealand	380	78	263
Bulgaria	628	90	297	Serbia	546	78	263
Romania	1,864	96	318	Romania	1,867	96	323
USA	36,120	110	364	Bulgaria	682	97	327
Canada	..	..	-	USA	36,750	112	379

1 In accordance with the commonly agreed international definition, most countries define a fatality as one being due to a road accident where death occurs within 30 days of the accident. The official road accident statistics of some countries however, limit the fatalities to those occurring within shorter periods after the accident. Numbers of deaths and death rates in the above table have been adjusted according to the factors used by the Economic Commission for Europe and the International Transport Forum (ITF) (formerly known as ECMT) to represent standardised 30-day deaths: Italy (7 days) +8%; France (6 days) +5.7%; Portugal (1 day) +14%; Republic of Korea (3 days) +15%.

2 Source: International Road Traffic and Accident Database (OECD), ETSC, EUROSTAT and CARE (EU road accidents database).

3. The 2018 figures presented for Scotland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom use Scotland’s finalised fatality numbers.

Table G: Fatality rates per capita, for (c) Pedestrians and (d) Car users - 2018;

(c) Pedestrians				(d) Car users
	Per million population				Per million population
	Numbers killed	Rate	Index		Numbers killed	Rate	Index
Iceland	0	0	0	Japan	894	7	49
Norway	14	3	44	Switzerland	79	9	65
Netherlands	50	3	48	Malta	5	11	73
Sweden	34	3	55	Israel	94	11	74
Malta	2	4	69	Norway	59	11	78
Finland	25	5	75	Denmark	65	11	78
Luxembourg	3	5	82	England	646	12	80
Denmark	30	5	86	Great Britain	777	12	84
Austria	47	5	88	United Kingdom	807	12	85
Germany	458	6	91	Ireland	62	13	89
Switzerland	48	6	93	Republic of Korea	725	14	98
Scotland	33	6	100	Netherlands	245	14	99
Slovenia	13	6	104	Scotland	78	14	100
Belgium	74	6	107	Slovenia	32	15	108
France	471	7	116	Spain	732	16	109
Great Britain	456	7	116	Estonia	21	16	111
United Kingdom	472	7	117	Northern Ireland	30	16	111
England	398	7	117	Wales	53	17	118
Australia	178	7	117	Germany	1,424	17	120
Wales	25	8	131	Cyprus	15	17	121
Spain	386	8	136	Sweden	181	18	125
New Zealand	41	8	138	Austria	181	21	143
Northern Ireland	16	9	140	Australia	533	21	149
Ireland	42	9	143	Slovakia	120	22	152
Canada	332	9	148	Portugal	231	22	156
Estonia	12	9	150	Italy	1,423	24	164
Cyprus	8	9	153	Belgium	275	24	168
Italy	612	10	167	France	1,637	24	171
Israel	98	11	182	Greece	267	25	173
Japan	1,482	12	193	Lithuania	73	26	181
Slovakia	72	13	215	Finland	146	26	185
Czech Republic	142	13	221	Hungary	291	30	207
Greece	146	14	224	Czech Republic	334	31	219
Portugal	156	15	250	Luxembourg	19	32	220
Croatia	65	16	261	Poland	1,291	34	237
Hungary	165	17	278	Serbia	241	34	240
Bulgaria	123	17	288	Iceland	12	34	240
USA	6,427	20	324	Latvia	70	36	252
Poland	803	21	348	Croatia	154	38	262
Serbia	151	22	355	Romania	737	38	263
Lithuania	71	25	417	USA	12775	39	272
Latvia	50	26	426	Bulgaria	341	48	337
Republic of Korea	1487	29	475	New Zealand	267	55	381
Romania	690	35	582

Table H: Road accident fatality rates per capita, by age group, ranked by respective rates - 2018;

	Per million			Per million
(a) 0-14 years	pop	Index	(b) 15-24 years	pop	Index
Norway	1	92	Scotland	35	100
Scotland	1	100	England	39	114
Austria	2	204	Great Britain	40	114
Ireland	3	258	Norway	41	119
Great Britain	3	285	Japan	45	130
England	3	290	Switzerland	46	133
United Kingdom	3	298	Northern Ireland	48	138
Spain	4	310	Wales	50	145
Sweden	4	338	United Kingdom	60	174
Italy	4	364	Denmark	60	175
Portugal	4	365	Sweden	61	176
Hungary	4	365	Spain	63	183
Japan	5	432	Korea	64	185
Finland	6	486	Hungary	66	191
Wales	6	490	Ireland	72	206
Korea	6	539	Belgium	81	233
Denmark	6	541	Israel	82	237
Greece	6	560	Germany	84	242
Germany	7	612	Iceland	84	242
Belgium	7	627	Austria	90	260
France	7	643	Portugal	97	280
Australia	7	646	Italy	106	305
Northern Ireland	8	700	Czech Republic	111	321
Switzerland	9	750	Australia	115	331
Poland	10	838	Greece	122	353
Luxembourg	10	891	France	124	359
Lithuania	12	1027	Finland	137	396
Serbia	12	1034	Lithuania	143	412
Israel	13	1105	Chile	154	443
Czech Republic	13	1140	Serbia	156	450
New Zealand	15	1283	Poland	167	483
Iceland	15	1284	Luxembourg	192	554
United States	17	1476	New Zealand	212	613
Chile	20	1711	United States	222	642
(c) 25-64 years			(d) 65+ years
Wales	18	63	Northern Ireland	32	62
Norway	21	74	Norway	35	66
Japan	22	77	Luxembourg	35	66
Switzerland	22	78	England	39	74
Scotland	29	100	United Kingdom	40	76
England	29	100	Great Britain	40	76
Great Britain	29	101	Wales	44	85
United Kingdom	29	101	Denmark	45	85
Sweden	31	107	Ireland	45	85
Denmark	31	108	Scotland	53	100
Ireland	31	110	Spain	55	105
Northern Ireland	32	112	Germany	59	112
Israel	34	120	Sweden	60	114
Germany	38	132	Switzerland	60	114
Finland	40	139	Iceland	61	116
Spain	41	143	Australia	62	118
Austria	48	167	France	65	124
Australia	48	169	Finland	67	127
Italy	52	182	Japan	67	127
France	52	183	Austria	73	140
Iceland	54	190	Lithuania	74	141
Belgium	56	197	Israel	75	143
Korea	59	206	Italy	78	148
Greece	62	219	Belgium	79	151
Luxembourg	63	222	Czech Republic	82	156
Lithuania	64	223	Greece	96	182
Czech Republic	65	227	Hungary	100	191
Portugal	67	233	Portugal	102	194
Hungary	71	248	Poland	108	204
Poland	77	269	New Zealand	110	209
New Zealand	77	271	Serbia	113	215
Serbia	78	275	United States	132	250
Chile	122	429	Chile	140	265
United States	130	456	Korea	228	434