Chapter 1: Road Transport Vehicles

 

Chapter 1: Road Transport Vehicles

1. Introduction

1.1 This chapter provides information about the numbers of road transport vehicles, such as new registrations, numbers licensed by taxation group and council area, ages, cylinder sizes, methods of propulsion, gross weights of heavy goods vehicles, seating capacity of public transport vehicles, licensing figures for taxi and private hire cars and their drivers and numbers of wheelchair accessible taxis. It also provides statistics of the most popular cars, results of the road vehicle testing scheme (MOT), driving tests, driving licence holders, households with the regular use of a car (from the Scottish Household Survey), the number of Blue Badges issued and information about motor vehicle offences recorded by the Police.

Key Points

• There were 2.9 million vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Scotland in 2015, of which 84 per cent were cars.
• Over two thirds (68%) of the adult population (17+) held a full driving licence in 2015.
• Seventy per cent of households had access to one or more cars or vans in 2015; a quarter (27%) of households had access to two or more cars or vans.

2. Main Points

Vehicles Licensed

2.1 The total number of new motor vehicles registrations in 2015 was around 267,600, 2% more than in 2014 and 6% more than 2005. (Table 1.1)

2.2 New registrations of cars in 2015 accounted for around 224,000 of these, around 6,000 (3%) more than in 2014, and 11,000 (5%) more than 2005. Of all new registered vehicles in 2015, 125,300 (47%) were petrol-propelled, and 137,700 (51%) were diesel-propelled. The remaining new vehicles registered in 2015 were mostly electric or hybrid-electric vehicles, both these groups have seen steady increases in new registrations in recent years. In the last 10 years, only 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 saw more new diesel vehicles registered than petrol vehicles. More detailed data on vehicles registered in 2015 by body type and propulsion is included in Chapter 13. (Table 1.1)

2.3 The total number of vehicles licensed was 2.9 million in 2015, 1 per cent higher than 2014 and 13% higher than in 2005. The number of private and light goods vehicles in 2015 was 2.5 million, 2% more than 2014 and 14% higher than 2005. (Table 1.2)

2.4 Glasgow had the largest number of vehicles licensed as at the end of 2015 (262,600), followed by Fife (201,200) and Edinburgh (192,200) - based on the postcode of the registered keeper. Per head of population (aged 17+), Glasgow had the third lowest figure behind Dundee and Edinburgh. Glasgow had 433 vehicles for every 1,000 people aged 17+, Edinburgh was lowest at 385. Vehicle ownership per head was much higher in rural areas - Orkney had 753 vehicles per 1,000 people aged 17+, Shetland had 726 and Aberdeenshire had 712, the three areas in Scotland with the highest vehicle ownership by population. The Scotland average was 533 per thousand. The pattern for car registrations was similar with Edinburgh lowest, but Stirling had the highest figure per thousand population at 584, followed by Aberdeenshire at 551. The effect of the registration of company car fleets can be seen: Glasgow accounted for 31 per cent

(55,600) of all the company cars registered in Scotland, compared to 9 per cent of all cars. (Table 1.3)

2.5 There were 10,536 taxis and 12,122 private hire cars licensed in Scotland based on figures provided by Scottish local licensing authorities during October-November 2016. These show that licensed taxis have fallen by 4 and private hire cars have risen by 1,441 compared with figures for 2015. Latest figures show that of the 10,536 licensed taxis, just under 4,954 (47%) are wheelchair accessible, a similar proportion and slight decrease in the total number of accessible vehicles from the previous year. The proportion of wheelchair accessible vehicles varies across different Authority areas. (Table 1.4)

2.6 The average age of private and light goods vehicles in 2015 was 6.6 years, the same as last year, and continuing a trend of increasing average age since 2005. The average age of private and light goods vehicles continued to be lower in Scotland than for Great Britain as a whole. In 2015 the average age of these vehicles in Great Britain was 7.8 years. (Table 1.6)

2.7 There were 6,087 licensed operators of heavy goods vehicles in Scotland in December 2016 and 895 public service vehicle licence holders. Most HGV operators had few (if any) vehicles specified on the licence: 2,954 had 0-2 vehicles, 1,500 had 3-5 vehicles and 812 had 6-10 vehicles. Only 81 operators had between 51 and 100 vehicles specified on the licence as at December 2016. (Table 1.10)

2.8 The most popular new car sold in Scotland in 2015 was the Vauxhall Corsa with a market share of 5.4%. The top 5 most popular models had a total market share of 18% and the top 10, 28%. (Table 1.11)

MOTs & Driving Tests

2.9 In 2015/16, about 40% of cars tested in the Road Vehicle Testing Scheme (MOT) were unsatisfactory, as were 15% of motor cycles. About 18% of cars tested had unsatisfactory lights or signalling, 18% had unsatisfactory suspension and 16% had unsatisfactory brakes (a vehicle with more than one type of fault is counted against each of them). 8% of motorcycles tested had unsatisfactory lights or signalling, 4% had unsatisfactory brakes and 3% had unsatisfactory steering or suspension. (Table 1.12)

2.10 There were 123,000 driving licence practical tests conducted in 2015, the same as 2014. The pass rate was also the same at 48%. The test centre at the Isle of Mull had the highest pass rate (88%), though only 17 tests were conducted, Isle of Skye (Portree) had the highest pass rate for centres where at least 50 tests were conducted (77%), while the lowest was at Glasgow Shieldhall (38%). (Tables 1.13 & 1.14)

2.11 The Scottish Household Survey results for 2015 showed that 68% of adults over the age of 17 held a full driving license. Although men were more likely to hold a full driving licence than women in all age groups, the difference between the proportions increased with age. For the 17-19 age group in 2015, the difference was 5 percentage points. For 70-79 year olds there was a difference of 24 percentage points (men: 76%, women: 52%), which increased to 40 percentage points for those aged 80+ (men: 67%; women: 27%). (Tables 1.16 and 1.17)

2.12 SHS results also showed that the percentage holding a full driving licence tended to increase with household income. In 2015, 89% of adults aged 17+ living in households which had an annual net income of over £40,000 held a full driving licence. In contrast, only 45% of adults who lived in households with an annual net income of up to £10,000 held a full driving licence.

2.13 License possession was also more likely in rural areas. In 2015, 61% of adults aged 17+ living in large urban areas held a full driving licence compared with 81% of those living in ‘Remote Rural’ areas (the Scottish Government urban/rural classification system used in the Survey is described in the Notes and Definitions section, page 225). (Table 1.16)

Car Availability

2.14 The Scottish Household Survey shows that 70 per cent of households had access to one or more cars in 2015, a proportion that has remained relatively stable over the last five years. A quarter (27%) of households had access to two or more cars. (Table 1.19) These estimates were similar to results from the Scotland Census 2011, which suggested that 69% of households have access to one or more cars, with 27% having two or more cars. The Census also showed that slightly fewer men (21 per cent) than women (26 per cent) aged 16 and over lived in households with no cars or vans available. (Table 1.23)

2.15 The Scottish Household Survey also shows how the percentage of households with a car available for private use varies between different household types, income bands and type of area. In 2015, family (small or large) and large adult households were most likely to have access to at least one car (large family: 90%, small family: 89%, large adult: 87%). (note definitions of family types are included in the Notes and Definitions section, page 225) Least likely to have access to a car were single pensioner households (43%). The SHS also showed that 27% of large adult and 14% of large family households had 3 or more cars available for private use in 2015. (Table 1.20) The 2011 Census showed that married or cohabiting families with dependent children were most likely to have access to a car, at 92%, and single pensioner households were the least likely, at 36%. (Table 1.24)

2.16 Only 40% of households whose net annual income was up to £10,000 had one or more cars available for private use, compared with at least 85% of households whose annual net income were above £25,000. 60% of households in large urban areas had cars, compared with 83-88% those in rural areas. (Table 1.20)

2.17 The car ownership statistics from the SHS can be supplemented with information on equalities from the 2011 Census. This shows that the proportion of households with no car or van available was generally higher for those where the Household Reference Person (HRP)^[1] was from a minority ethnic group; within this group it was highest for households where the HRP was from the ‘African’ (60 per cent) or ‘Caribbean or Black’ (49 per cent) ethnic groups. Additionally, of the 473,000 people in households who had a long-term health problem or disability that limited their day-to-day activities a lot, 46 per cent lived in households with no cars or vans available. The corresponding proportion was 34 per cent for the 523,000 people whose day-day activities were limited a little and 19 per cent for the 4.2 million people who had no limiting long-term health problem. (Table 1.25)

2.18 There were 229,529 Blue Badges on issue in Scotland at the end of March 2016. 108,085 were issued to recipients of allowances or grants which provide an automatic entitlement to a Blue Badge, 118,634 were issued on a discretionary basis to other people with a permanent or substantial disability, and 2,810 were issued to institutions. (Table 1.21)

Motor Vehicle Offences

2.19 The numbers of motor vehicle offences recorded by the police include offences in respect of which either the police or the procurator fiscal made a conditional offer of a fixed penalty (mainly moving vehicle offences). They do not include stationary vehicle offences which are dealt with by the police or traffic wardens by means of fixed penalty notices (mainly parking offences).

2.20 Following the establishment of Police Scotland, data for 2013-14 onwards are returned from one central unit within Police Scotland using their performance management tool. Prior to 2013-14, data were returned by the eight legacy police force areas. An extensive quality assurance exercise was carried out by the Scottish Government to ensure that the dataset produced from the new system is consistent with data returned from the legacy police forces.

2.21 This exercise identified a number of anomalies affecting comparability of the time series resulting in breaks in the series. Further information about these discontinuities can be found in the Technical report, entitled Recorded Crime: Comparability of Police Scotland and Legacy Force Data, available from http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport.

2.20 The total number of motor vehicle offences recorded in 2015-16 was 170,297 (Table 1.22).

2.21 Although the total number of motor vehicle offences recorded decreased by 13% between 2014-15 and 2015-16, there were as many motor vehicle offence categories that showed an increase as those that showed a decrease; changes in these figures may arise because of changes in the level of enforcement or police deployment. The largest decreases were for Seat belt offences, where there was a 48% decrease from 15,619 to 8,059, and for Mobile phone offences, where there was a 44% decrease from 17,978 to 10,085 (Table 1.22).

Figure 1.1 New registrations by taxation group

Note: In 2003 the definition of "Crown Exempt" and "Other" categories mean figures aren't strictly comparable.

See footnote 3 of table 1.1

 

Table 1.1 New registrations by taxation group, body type and method of propulsion

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
	thousand
by type of vehicle (taxation group)
Private and light goods	212.5	204.9	209.3	170.0	176.8	168.3	159.2	174.9	199.3	217.4	223.5
Motorcycles	6.6	7.1	7.6	7.5	6.0	4.9	4.8	5.1	5.2	5.9	6.1
Public transport 1	1.3	1.1	1.0	0.9	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.9	0.8	0.8
Goods	3.7	3.7	3.3	3.7	2.2	2.0	2.5	2.7	3.3	2.5	3.0
Crown and exempt 2	26.0	25.3	28.4	31.6	30.0	32.4	34.4	31.9	31.6	34.1	32.3
Other vehicles 2	1.2	1.2	1.6	1.5	0.8	0.7	0.9	1.2	1.0	1.5	1.9
Total	251.3	243.2	251.2	215.3	216.4	208.8	202.3	216.4	241.4	262.2	267.6
by body type
Cars	203.2	196.5	202.5	172.7	186.2	177.2	167.8	182.5	205.2	222.4	221.8
Taxis	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.5	0.5
Motorcycles	6.6	7.2	7.8	7.7	6.1	5.0	4.8	5.2	5.3	6.1	6.4
Three wheelers	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Light goods 3	29.6	28.2	28.8	22.8	14.4	17.8	19.6	17.7	20.2	23.4	28.3
Goods 3	4.4	4.2	3.8	4.2	3.0	2.3	2.8	3.2	3.8	3.2	3.8
Buses and coaches	1.6	1.5	1.3	1.1	0.8	0.8	0.8	0.8	1.0	0.9	0.9
Agricultural vehicles etc	2.9	2.9	3.3	3.5	3.1	3.0	3.2	3.0	2.6	2.8	2.8
Other vehicles	2.4	2.1	3.0	2.9	2.5	2.3	2.9	3.6	2.9	2.9	3.1
All vehicles	251.3	243.2	251.2	215.3	216.4	208.8	202.3	216.4	241.4	262.2	267.6
by method of propulsion
Petrol	142.2	137.4	143.3	117.3	123.9	107.8	98.4	110.0	118.8	125.3	125.3
Diesel	108.8	105.3	106.9	96.7	91.2	99.0	101.9	104.4	120.2	133.3	137.7
Hybrid Electric	0.2	0.4	0.6	0.7	0.8	1.3	1.1	1.1	1.4	2.0	3.1
Electricity	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.6	1.4
Gas Bi-Fuel	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Gas Or Petrol/Gas	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Other 4	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total	251.3	243.2	251.2	215.3	216.4	208.8	202.3	216.4	241.4	262.2	267.6

1. Estimates include only those vehicles with more than 8 seats.
2. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards
3. In 2004 DfT revised the figures for the light goods and goods body types back to 2001. DfT does not have the underlying data to revise earlier years' figures.
4. Gas Diesel and Steam.
Note: Table 13.9 in Chapter 13 shows vehicles first registered in 2015 by body type and method of propulsion.

 

Table 1.2 Vehicles licensed at 31 December, by taxation group, body type and method of propulsion

	2005	20063	20073	20083	20093	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
	thousand
by type of vehicle (taxation group)
Private and light goods	2,231	2,259	2,313	2,347	2,362	2,364	2,369	2,395	2,436	2,496	2,537
Motorcycles	56	59	63	66	66	63	60	60	59	61	62
Public transport 1	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12
Goods	32	33	33	32	31	30	29	29	29	29	30
Crown and exempt 2	189	191	195	198	203	206	211	212	213	214	211
Other vehicles 2	11	11	11	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	11
All vehicles	2,531	2,564	2,627	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863
by body type
Cars	2,139	2,157	2,201	2,233	2,249	2,255	2,264	2,285	2,319	2,369	2,394
Taxis	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4
Motorcycles	62	65	69	71	72	69	66	66	66	67	68
Three wheelers	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Light goods	209	221	234	240	242	240	238	241	247	256	269
Goods	32	38	38	38	37	36	36	35	36	36	37
Buses and coaches	18	18	18	17	17	16	16	16	15	15	15
Agricultural vehicles etc	42	42	43	44	45	45	47	48	48	49	50
Other vehicles	25	19	19	18	18	19	20	22	23	24	25
All vehicles	2,531	2,564	2,627	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863
by method of propulsion
Petrol	1,771	1,748	1,747	1,735	1,701	1,656	1,619	1,592	1,567	1,552	1,522
Diesel	756	812	874	923	974	1,018	1,061	1,113	1,178	1,252	1,321
Hybrid Electric	0	1	1	2	3	4	5	6	8	9	11
Electricity	0	0	1	1	2	2	2	3	4	5	6
Gas Bi-Fuel	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1
Gas or petrol/gas	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1
Steam	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Others	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	2,531	2,564	2,627	2,665	2,684	2,685	2,691	2,717	2,759	2,821	2,863

1. Estimates include only those vehicles with more than 8 seats.
2. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards
3. DfT have revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

Note: Table 13.10 in Chapter 13 shows vehicles licensed in 2015 by body type and method of propulsion.

Figure 1.2 Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2015 by Council

Figure 1.3 Private cars licensed at 31 December 2015 per thousand population aged 17+

 

Table 1.3 Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2015 by Council and taxation group

	Private and light goods		Motorcycles1	Public transport	Goods2	Crown and Exempt3	Other vehicles	All vehicles			Population aged 17+ (NRS Population estimates Mid 2015)	Vehicles registered per 1,000 people aged 17+	Cars registered per 1,000 people aged 17+
	Body type cars	Other vehicles						Total	of which body type cars	of which company cars
thousand
Aberdeen City	91.6	8.6	3.0	0.6	1.0	4.8	0.4	110.0	94.7	5.0	230,350	477	411
Aberdeenshire	139.7	20.4	5.0	0.6	2.2	17.3	1.3	186.5	144.4	5.8	261,960	712	551
Angus	55.6	7.0	1.9	0.1	0.9	6.4	0.3	72.2	58.1	2.7	116,900	618	497
Argyll & Bute	39.9	6.9	1.1	0.3	0.6	4.0	0.2	53.1	41.8	1.9	86,890	611	482
Clackmannanshire	23.4	2.2	0.7	0.1	0.2	1.9	0.0	28.5	24.9	1.1	51,360	555	485
Dumfries & Galloway	70.6	11.6	2.6	0.2	1.5	11.4	0.3	98.2	74.7	4.2	149,670	656	499
Dundee City	50.3	4.2	1.2	0.2	0.5	4.2	0.1	60.7	53.7	3.5	148,210	409	362
East Ayrshire	51.6	5.7	1.4	0.2	0.7	5.6	0.2	65.3	55.0	3.0	122,060	535	451
East Dunbartonshire	52.6	3.5	1.0	0.1	0.2	2.6	0.1	60.0	54.7	2.5	106,960	561	512
East Lothian	46.7	5.0	1.6	0.5	0.3	4.0	0.1	58.2	49.0	2.2	103,050	565	475
East Renfrewshire	44.4	2.5	0.8	0.1	0.2	2.1	0.1	50.3	46.1	1.7	92,940	541	497
Edinburgh, City of	163.5	12.5	4.3	1.0	0.6	10.1	0.2	192.2	170.2	8.2	498,810	385	341
Eilean Siar 4	12.3	3.1	0.4	0.2	0.2	1.5	0.1	17.8	12.9	0.5	27,070	658	475
Falkirk	71.9	6.7	2.0	0.1	1.2	5.3	0.3	87.5	76.0	3.8	158,460	552	479
Fife	163.9	16.0	4.9	1.0	1.2	13.8	0.5	201.2	173.3	8.0	368,080	547	471
Glasgow, City of	206.0	27.2	2.9	1.7	1.6	21.9	1.3	262.6	223.3	55.6	606,340	433	368
Highland	107.8	20.2	3.7	0.6	1.3	12.9	1.0	147.5	112.8	5.5	234,110	630	482
Inverclyde	31.2	1.9	0.6	0.5	0.1	2.5	0.0	36.9	33.4	1.6	79,500	464	420
Midlothian	38.1	4.6	1.4	0.1	0.4	3.2	0.1	47.9	40.5	2.1	87,390	548	463
Moray	44.0	6.5	1.8	0.1	0.7	4.8	0.3	58.3	45.9	2.1	95,510	610	481
North Ayrshire	57.0	5.7	1.7	0.2	0.7	5.2	0.2	70.6	60.8	4.6	136,130	518	446
North Lanarkshire	131.8	21.1	2.5	0.6	3.6	12.2	0.4	172.2	142.6	9.7	338,260	509	422
Orkney Islands	10.2	2.6	0.5	0.1	0.2	2.6	0.2	16.3	10.7	0.5	21,670	753	495
Perth & Kinross	71.4	9.6	2.1	0.2	0.8	7.7	0.9	92.8	74.2	3.8	149,930	619	495
Renfrewshire	71.8	6.5	1.7	0.2	1.3	5.5	0.2	87.1	76.2	4.6	174,560	499	437
Scottish Borders	56.3	8.5	1.6	0.2	1.5	7.1	0.3	75.4	58.6	3.1	114,030	661	514
Shetland Islands	11.3	3.1	0.5	0.2	0.3	1.3	0.2	16.8	11.7	0.9	23,200	726	504
South Ayrshire	51.4	5.0	1.5	0.5	0.3	4.6	0.2	63.4	54.1	2.7	112,400	564	481
South Lanarkshire	135.7	13.4	2.9	0.6	2.2	11.9	0.5	167.2	144.8	8.4	316,230	529	458
Stirling	52.2	6.9	1.0	0.1	0.7	3.4	0.1	64.3	54.2	12.4	92,830	693	584
West Dunbartonshire	34.0	3.1	0.8	0.2	0.2	3.0	0.1	41.3	36.6	2.1	89,590	461	409
West Lothian	78.7	8.7	2.3	0.4	2.3	6.3	0.5	99.2	83.5	4.8	178,550	556	468
Council Unknown	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.0	1.2	0.7	0.2
Scotland	2,267.1	270.2	61.6	11.9	29.7	211.4	10.7	2,862.8	2,394.2	178.7	5,373,000	533	446

1. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles
2. Excludes heavy goods vehicles that are exempt from tax.
3. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group are now part of Crown and Exempt taxation group.
4. Formerly Western Isles

 

 

Table 1.4 Taxi, private hire cars and drivers licensed by local authority area, 2016

	Taxi vehicles	Private hire cars	Total	Taxi driver licenses	Private hire licences	Total	Wheelchair accessible taxis	Wheelchair accessible private hire cars
Council
Aberdeen City	989	290	1,279	1,522	237	1,759	518
Aberdeenshire	504	302	806	1,770	138	1,908	55	18
Angus	121	57	178	215	97	312	6	8
Argyll & Bute	191	52	243	375	62	437	6
Clackmannanshire	57	52	109	157	9	166	5	3
Dumfries & Galloway	207	135	342	505	29	534	6	2
Dundee City	585	218	803	1,381	48	1,429	330
East Ayrshire	126	86	212	427	24	451	21	6
East Dunbartonshire	369	303	672	754	40	794	24
East Lothian 1	126	126	252	398		398	126
East Renfrewshire	63	476	539	78	540	618	4	2
Edinburgh, City of	1,316	1,471	2,787	3,226	2,114	5,340	1,316
Eilean Siar	90	20	110	151	15	166	2
Falkirk	430	129	559	520	138	658	84	11
Fife 1	477	329	806	1,829		1,829	39	62
Glasgow, City of	1,419	3,153	4,572	2,697	4,332	7,029	1,419	16
Highland	547	171	718	787	260	1,047	18	13
Inverclyde	243	56	299	668		668	23	1
Midlothian	52	128	180	99	337	436
Moray	203	23	226	397	5	402	8	4
North Ayrshire	216	57	273	565	2	567	33
North Lanarkshire	494	1,255	1,749	1,244	1,301	2,545	168	3
Orkney Islands	30	17	47	98	7	105	2	1
Perth & Kinross 1	109	202	311	628		628	9	14
Renfrewshire	235	805	1,040	441	931	1,372	230	13
Scottish Borders	232	70	302	357	31	388	18	15
Shetland Islands	92	57	149	313	53	366
South Ayrshire	132	158	390	584	78	662	132
South Lanarkshire	344	1,362	1,706	669	1,734	2,403	30	24
Stirling	73	128	201	363	18	381	22	12
West Dunbartonshire 1	336	56	392	459	56	515	172	2
West Lothian	128	378	506	231	639	870	128	37
Scotland	10,536	12,122	22,758	23,908	13,275	37,183	4,954	267

Source: Scottish Government - Not National Statistics
1. Separate figures for taxi and private hire licences are not available.

 

 

Table 1.5 Vehicles licensed at 31 December 2015, by taxation group, and by year of first registration

Taxation group	Pre-2001	2001-2005	2006-2010	2011-2015	Total	Total stock	Average age of vehicles
	percentage of total				thousands		years
Private and light goods	3.4	20.0	33.5	43.0	100.0	2,537	6.6
of which body type cars	3.2	20.0	33.6	43.2	100.0	2,267	6.5
Motorcycles1	22.5	20.5	23.9	33.0	100.0	62	9.8
Public transport	11.1	25.8	29.8	33.3	100.0	12	8.3
Goods	4.9	15.5	31.7	47.9	100.0	30	6.3
Crown and exempt	21.0	11.9	16.6	50.5	100.0	211	11.9
Other vehicles	13.8	14.4	24.2	47.6	100.0	11	7.5
All vehicles	5.2	19.4	32.0	43.4	100.0	2,863	7.0
of which body type cars	3.6	19.6	32.5	44.3	100.0	2,394	6.6

1. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles.

 

 

Table 1.6 Average age of vehicles licensed at 31 December, by taxation group¹

Type of vehicle	2005	20065	20075	20085	20095	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
(a) Scotland	years
Private and light goods	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.8	6.0	6.1	6.3	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.6
Motorcycles 2	6.8	6.9	7.1	7.3	7.8	8.2	8.6	9.0	9.4	9.6	9.8
Public transport 3	8.0	7.9	7.9	7.8	8.0	8.1	8.4	8.4	8.3	8.3	8.3
Goods	5.6	5.4	5.5	5.5	5.8	6.1	6.2	6.3	6.2	6.3	6.3
Crown and exempt 4	10.2	10.3	10.4	10.3	10.4	10.6	10.7	10.9	11.3	11.5	11.9
Other vehicles 4	6.9	6.9	6.8	7.2	7.5	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.9	7.8	7.5
All vehicles	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.2	6.4	6.5	6.7	6.9	7.0	7.0	7.0
(b) Great Britain
Private and light goods	6.4	6.4	6.5	6.7	6.9	7.1	7.3	7.5	7.6	7.7	7.8
Motorcycles 2	6.5	6.7	6.9	7.2	7.7	8.1	8.5	8.9	9.2	9.5	9.6
Public transport 3	7.9	7.9	7.9	7.9	8.0	8.2	8.4	8.4	8.4	8.5	8.5
Goods	5.6	5.6	5.8	5.7	6.0	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.3	6.4	6.4
Crown and exempt 4	14.6	14.6	14.4	14.3	14.4	14.2	14.5	14.7	15.2	15.6	16.0
Other vehicles 4	8.7	8.6	8.5	8.5	9.0	9.2	9.3	9.3	9.3	9.1	8.8
All vehicles	6.9	6.9	7.0	7.2	7.4	7.6	7.8	8.0	8.2	8.3	8.3

1. Details of the DfT estimation methodology can be found in the Notes & Definitions.
2. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles.
3. Estimates include only those vehicles with more than 8 seats.
4. Vehicles in the Special Concessionary Group (part of other vehicles in 2002 and earlier years) are part of Crown and Exempt from 2003 onwards.
5. DfT have revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

 

 

Table 1.7 Private and light goods vehicles licensed at 31 December, by cylinder size

Cylinder size	2005	20061	20071	20081	20091	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
	percentage of year total
up to 700 cc	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
701 to 1,000 cc	4.3	4.1	3.9	3.8	3.8	3.8	3.8	4.0	4.5	5.2	5.9
1,001 to 1,200 cc	8.4	7.8	7.4	7.0	6.6	6.5	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.5	6.5
1,201 to 1,500 cc	24.2	24.1	24.1	24.4	24.7	25.3	25.7	26.0	26.2	26.2	26.3
1,501 to 1,800 cc	26.3	25.8	25.4	25.2	24.8	24.6	24.7	24.7	24.8	24.6	24.3
1,801 to 2,000 cc	22.2	22.6	22.8	23.0	23.2	22.9	22.5	22.0	21.4	20.9	20.4
2,001 to 2,500 cc	9.7	10.1	10.6	10.7	10.8	10.8	10.8	10.9	11.0	11.0	11.2
2,501 to 3,000 cc	3.1	3.4	3.7	3.9	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.9
3,000 cc and over	1.8	1.8	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.9	1.8	1.8	1.7	1.7	1.6
cc not known	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100.0	100
	thousand
Total	2,231	2,259	2,313	2,347	2,362	2,364	2,369	2,395	2,436	2495.6	2537.3

1. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

 

 

Table 1.8 Heavy goods vehicles licensed at 31 December, by gross weight

Gross weight (tonnes)	2005	20062	20072	20082	20092	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
	percentage of year total
3.5 to 7.5	30.5	30.0	29.7	29.6	29.1	29.2	28.8	28.3	26.9	26.2	25.2
7.51 to 12	3.1	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.7	2.7	2.8
12.1 to 16	4.2	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.1	4.0	3.7	3.6	3.7	3.6	3.6
16.1 to 20	14.3	14.4	14.2	14.1	14.1	14.4	14.2	14.1	14.1	13.8	13.4
20.1 to 24	4.0	3.9	3.7	3.7	3.4	3.2	2.7	2.4	2.1	2.0	2.0
24.1 to 28	12.0	12.6	12.6	12.6	13.0	13.3	13.8	14.1	14.6	14.4	14.4
28.1 to 32	7.1	7.8	8.5	9.0	9.0	8.9	9.1	9.0	9.2	9.8	10.1
32.1 to 38	4.0	3.3	2.9	2.7	2.7	2.4	1.9	2.2	2.0	1.9	1.8
over 38	20.8	21.5	21.7	21.7	22.3	22.2	23.3	23.8	24.8	25.6	26.7
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100.0	100.0
	thousand
Total 1	33.0	33.0	32.7	32.2	31.2	30.4	29.4	28.9	28.9	29.4	29.7

1. Mainly heavy goods vehicles but includes vehicles which are licensed as HGVs but do not have a goods body type.
2. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

 

 

Table 1.9 Public transport vehicles licensed at 31 December: by seating capacity

Number of seats	2005	20061	20071	20081	20091	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
9-15	1,554	1,646	1,751	1,825	1,766	1,795	1,753	1,721	1,701	1,666	1,636
16-32	3,928	3,921	3,937	3,871	3,920	3,912	3,795	3,836	3,916	3,995	4,013
33-40	1,249	1,238	1,301	1,266	1,186	1,117	1,082	1,003	948	1,008	975
41-48	1,108	1,290	1,322	1,370	1,383	1,379	1,415	1,458	1,507	1,528	1,529
49-56	2,031	1,957	1,937	1,859	1,757	1,667	1,580	1,449	1,384	1,388	1,380
57-64	201	209	207	217	270	274	319	397	413	443	463
65-72	482	521	546	523	525	583	539	553	513	510	513
73 and over	1,448	1,317	1,406	1,418	1,411	1,384	1,446	1,417	1,374	1,375	1,423
Total	12,001	12,099	12,407	12,349	12,218	12,111	11,929	11,834	11,756	11,913	11,932

1. In 2010 DfT revised stock figures from 2006 to 2009 - see http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/vehicle-licensing/notesvls.pdf

 

 

Table 1.10 Heavy goods and public service vehicle operators in Scotland by licence type and number vehicles ¹

Number of vehicles specified on licence	HGV				PSV
	Restricted	Standard National	Standard International	Total licence holders	Restricted	Standard National	Standard International	Total licence holders
0-2	1,886	918	150	2,954	328	95	25	448
3-5	640	713	147	1,500	-	123	16	139
6-10	276	442	94	812	-	102	39	141
11-20	97	261	50	408	-	68	28	96
21-50	46	179	52	277	-	20	25	45
51-100	15	53	13	81	-	4	7	11
101-200	7	22	10	39	-	3	1	4
200+	1	10	5	16	-	5	6	11
Total	2,968	2,598	521	6,087	328	420	147	895

1. As at December 2016
Source: Figures in previous versions of this table were obtained from VOSA. These figures are are on a differenct basis and have been obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency https://data.gov.uk/dataset/traffic-commissioners-goods-and-public-service-vehicle-operator-licence-records

 

Table 1.11 The 20 most popular new cars sold in Scotland ¹, 2015

Position	Make	Range	Number of cars sold	Market share percent
1	VAUXHALL	CORSA	11,955	5.4
2	FORD	FIESTA	9,956	4.5
3	FORD	FOCUS	6,032	2.7
4	VOLKSWAGEN	POLO	5,825	2.6
5	VAUXHALL	MOKKA	5,193	2.4
6	VOLKSWAGEN	GOLF	4,766	2.2
7	RENAULT	CLIO	4,600	2.1
8	VAUXHALL	ASTRA	4,387	2.0
9	FIAT	500	4,263	1.9
10	DACIA	SANDERO	4,033	1.8
11	RENAULT	CAPTUR	3,831	1.7
12	MINI	MINI	3,758	1.7
13	AUDI	A3	3,635	1.6
14	NISSAN	QASHQAI	3,426	1.6
15	PEUGEOT	208	3,046	1.4
16	BMW	3 SERIES	2,616	1.2
17	VAUXHALL	INSIGNIA	2,516	1.1
18	FORD	KUGA	2,472	1.1
19	AUDI	A1	2,472	1.1
20	TOYOTA	YARIS	2,450	1.1
Total top 20 cars			91,232	41.4
Total all other cars			129,322	58.6
Total cars sold			220,554	100.0

Source: SMMT - Not National Statistics
1. Figures relate to cars sold by members of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd to customers resident in Scotland. Figures differ from the numbers of new registrations of cars in Table 1.1, as the latter may include cars purchased elsewhere.

 

 

Table 1.12 Road vehicle testing scheme (MOT) ¹

	2012	2013	2014	2015 8
Cars 2	thousands
Total Tests	2,042.8	2,074.8	2,074.8	2,096.9
Pass with Rectification at Station	141.7	134.8	131.3	121.1
Fail	745.0	770.9	741.0	724.2
Initial Failure Rate 4	43.4%	43.7%	42.0%	40.3%
Final Failure Rate 5	36.5%	37.2%	35.7%	34.5%
Percentage of vehicles with one or more fail or PRS 3 type RfRs6 in defect category	percent
Body and structure	1.6	1.6	1.6	1.6
Brakes	16.0	16.3	15.3	15.5
Drivers view of the road	7.5	7.6	7.0	7.3
Driving controls	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Fuel and exhaust	6.0	5.9	5.6	5.5
Lighting and signalling	19.1	19.2	18.5	18.0
Motor tricycles and quadricycles	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Reg plates and vin	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.8
Road wheels	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.4
Seat belts	1.4	2.5	2.1	1.9
Steering	5.1	4.6	4.2	4.0
Suspension	17.0	17.6	17.0	18.0
Towbars	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0
Tyres	8.0	8.0	7.7	7.8
Items not tested	0.9	0.8	0.6	0.3
Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	3.40	3.46	3.39	3.32
Motor cycles	thousands
Total Tests	54.7	59.4	58.8	59.2
Pass with Rectification at Station	3.6	3.5	3.3	3.0
Fail	6.3	6.5	6.1	5.8
Initial Failure Rate 4	18.1%	17.0%	16.1%	14.9%
Final Failure Rate 5	11.6%	11.0%	10.5%	9.8%
Percentage of vehicles with one or more fail or PRS 3 type RfRs6 in defect category	percent
Body and structure	0.8	0.7	0.7	0.6
Brakes	4.3	4.0	3.9	3.7
Drive system	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.2
Driving controls	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4
Fuel and exhaust	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.8
Lighting and signalling	9.8	8.9	8.3	8.2
Registration plates and vin	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.9
Sidecar	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Steering and suspension	4.0	3.6	3.4	3.3
Tyres and wheels	3.1	3.0	2.8	2.9
Items not tested	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.0
Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	2.03	2.01	2.01	1.95
Private Passenger (over 12 seats)	thousands
Total Tests	4.2	4.3	4.3	4.2
Pass with Rectification at Station	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Fail	1.2	1.3	1.2	1.1
Initial Failure Rate 4	33.3%	34.6%	32.6%	31.6%
Final Failure Rate 5	28.6%	29.5%	27.7%	26.1%
Percentage of vehicles with one or more fail or PRS 3 type RfRs6 in defect category	percent
Body and structure	5.0	8.8	8.2	6.7
Brakes	16.7	17.3	15.9	15.3
Drivers view of the road	5.1	5.1	5.3	4.8
Driving controls	1.0	1.2	1.0	0.7
Fuel and exhaust	4.1	3.7	3.8	3.6
Lighting and signalling	16.4	17.6	16.5	16.6
Reg plates and vin	0.6	0.5	0.6	0.5
Road wheels	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1
Seat belts	5.3	5.3	4.8	4.3
Steering	5.6	5.3	4.8	4.0
Suspension	8.5	8.6	8.0	8.6
Tyres Towbars	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Items not tested Tyres	3.5	3.6	3.0	3.4
Items not tested	0.6	0.5	0.3	0.0
Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	4.09	4.26	4.07	3.85
Light goods vehicles 7	thousands
Total Tests	44.4	45.2	46.1	48.1
Pass with Rectification at Station	2.7	2.7	2.9	3.0
Fail	20.7	21.7	21.3	21.4
Initial Failure Rate 4	52.7%	54.0%	52.5%	50.7%
Final Failure Rate 5	46.7%	48.0%	46.1%	44.5%
Percentage of vehicles with one or more fail or PRS 3 type RfRs6 in defect category	percent
Body and structure	5.5	5.8	5.8	5.8
Brakes	30.3	31.2	28.8	29.3
Drivers view of the road	11.6	11.9	11.1	11.8
Fuel and exhaust	5.7	5.9	5.7	5.5
Lighting and signalling	32.1	33.9	32.4	32.8
Reg plates and vin	1.6	1.7	1.5	1.5
Road wheels	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.3
Seat belts	3.4	4.6	4.1	4.1
Steering	10.3	10.4	9.5	8.9
Suspension	20.4	21.4	20.9	22.0
Tyres Towbars	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3
Items not tested Tyres	7.4	7.4	7.2	7.0
Items not tested	1.2	1.2	0.8	0.2
Defect Items per Initial Test Failure	5.11	5.31	5.14	5.04

1. Vehicle numbers are for valid, and completed normal tests only. Retests are excluded.
2. Cars, vans and passenger vehicles with up to 12 seats.
3. PRS = Pass with Rectification at Station
4. Initial Failure Rate = (PRS + Failures) / Total Tests
5. Final Failure Rate = Failures / Total Tests
6. Reason for Rejection
7. Over 3,000kg and up to and including 3,500kg.
8. Figures for 1st April 2015 to 31st March 2016 have been sourced from the revised MOT system. This results in fractionally different outturn.
All previous figures are sourced from original MOT Computerisation system.

 

 

Table 1.13 Driving licence tests, DVLA receipts¹

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Theory 4	thousand
Applications received	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Theory tests conducted	99	108	100	105	99	103	99	122	129	190
Theory test passes	70	73	68	69	65	66	61	67	69	94
	percent
Theory test pass rate	71	68	67	66	66	64	62	54	54	49
Practical 2,4	thousand
Applications received	139	137	137	132	132	130	119	126	127	136
Driving tests concluded	139	136	130	120	126	125	113	124	123	123
Passes	62	62	61	56	58	59	54	58	59	60
	percent
Pass rate	45	46	47	46	47	47	47	47	48	48
DVLA receipts	£ million
Vehicle licences 3	402.7	432.0	446.0	449.7	463.0	479.0	473.0	479.6	512.5	512.7
Driving licences	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Total	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

Source: DVLA and DSA - Not National Statistics
1. Figures relate to the financial year which commences in the specified calendar year.
2. The practical test figures are provisional.
3. The vehicle licence figure does not include refunds issued.
4. These figures are for car licence tests only.

 

 

Table 1.14 Practical Driving Test - Pass Rate at Test Centres 2015-16

	Male			Female			Overall
	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate	Conducted	Pass	Pass rate
Aberdeen North (Bridge of Don) (M)	1,450	807	55.7%	1,909	883	46.3%	3,359	1,690	50.3%
Aberdeen South (Cove) (M)	2,018	1,071	53.1%	2,176	1,028	47.2%	4,194	2,099	50.0%
Aberfeldy (R)	43	24	55.8%	58	29	50.0%	101	53	52.5%
Airdrie (M)	1,937	930	48.0%	2,089	886	42.4%	4,026	1,816	45.1%
Alness (R)	419	270	64.4%	421	244	58.0%	840	514	61.2%
Arbroath (R)	357	214	59.9%	404	233	57.7%	761	447	58.7%
Ayr (M)	1,241	528	42.5%	1,339	513	38.3%	2,580	1,041	40.3%
Ballachulish (R)	..	..	71.4%	..	..	66.7%	13	9	69.2%
Ballater (R)	86	65	75.6%	138	90	65.2%	224	155	69.2%
Banff (R)	143	84	58.7%	162	88	54.3%	305	172	56.4%
Barra (R)	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Benbecula Island (R)	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Bishopbriggs (M)	2,500	1,259	50.4%	2,906	1,268	43.6%	5,406	2,527	46.7%
Brodick (Isle of Arran) (R)	38	20	52.6%	50	22	44.0%	88	42	47.7%
Buckie (R)	168	96	57.1%	153	74	48.4%	321	170	53.0%
Callander (O)	165	91	55.2%	219	101	46.1%	384	192	50.0%
Campbeltown (R)	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Castle Douglas (R)	207	121	58.5%	251	126	50.2%	458	247	53.9%
Crieff (R)	100	62	62.0%	118	62	52.5%	218	124	56.9%
Cumnock (T)	469	254	54.2%	649	297	45.8%	1,118	551	49.3%
Dumbarton (M)	834	399	47.8%	984	399	40.5%	1,818	798	43.9%
Dumfries (M)	883	474	53.7%	874	405	46.3%	1,757	879	50.0%
Dundee (M)	2,015	1,143	56.7%	2,374	1,216	51.2%	4,389	2,359	53.7%
Dunfermline (M)	1,472	696	47.3%	1,707	701	41.1%	3,179	1,397	43.9%
Dunoon (R)	77	52	67.5%	102	60	58.8%	179	112	62.6%
Duns (R )	54	34	63.0%	66	36	54.5%	120	70	58.3%
East Kilbride (T)	358	168	46.9%	570	225	39.5%	928	393	42.3%
Edinburgh (Currie) (M)	3,255	1,631	50.1%	3,327	1,550	46.6%	6,582	3,181	48.3%
Edinburgh (Musselburgh) (M)	3,330	1,663	49.9%	3,920	1,734	44.2%	7,250	3,397	46.9%
Elgin (M)	811	476	58.7%	850	434	51.1%	1,661	910	54.8%
Forfar (R)	327	198	60.6%	314	188	59.9%	641	386	60.2%
Fort William (R)	182	126	69.2%	228	150	65.8%	410	276	67.3%
Fraserburgh (O)	230	139	60.4%	280	146	52.1%	510	285	55.9%
Gairloch (R)	29	25	86.2%	22	14	63.6%	51	39	76.5%
Galashiels (M)	394	230	58.4%	381	204	53.5%	775	434	56.0%
Girvan (T)	83	51	61.4%	153	82	53.6%	236	133	56.4%
Glasgow (Anniesland) (M)	3,808	1,731	45.5%	4,175	1,719	41.2%	7,983	3,450	43.2%
Glasgow (Baillieston) (M)	3,207	1,524	47.5%	3,939	1,548	39.3%	7,146	3,072	43.0%
Glasgow (Shieldhall) (M)	3,023	1,209	40.0%	2,947	1,054	35.8%	5,970	2,263	37.9%
Golspie (R)	37	26	70.3%	28	19	67.9%	65	45	69.2%
Grangemouth (M)	1,717	926	53.9%	2,008	947	47.2%	3,725	1,873	50.3%
Grantown-On-Spey (R)	76	47	61.8%	43	31	72.1%	119	78	65.5%
Greenock (M)	1,124	597	53.1%	1,240	586	47.3%	2,364	1,183	50.0%
Haddington (R )	507	306	60.4%	646	345	53.4%	1,153	651	56.5%
Hamilton (M)	2,090	1,105	52.9%	2,511	1,140	45.4%	4,601	2,245	48.8%
Hawick (R)	145	88	60.7%	241	134	55.6%	386	222	57.5%
Huntly (R)	159	95	59.7%	187	96	51.3%	346	191	55.2%
Inveraray (R)	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Inverness (Cradlehall Business Park) (M)	1,108	575	51.9%	1,212	580	47.9%	2,320	1,155	49.8%
Inverness LGV	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Inverurie (R )	279	185	66.3%	419	244	58.2%	698	429	61.5%
Irvine (M)	1,841	1,044	56.7%	2,442	1,068	43.7%	4,283	2,112	49.3%
Islay Island (R )	26	19	73.1%	36	20	55.6%	62	39	62.9%
Isle of Mull (R )	9	8	88.9%	8	7	87.5%	17	15	88.2%
Isle of Skye (Broadford) (R)	31	16	51.6%	29	17	58.6%	60	33	55.0%
Isle of Skye (Portree) (R)	57	45	78.9%	58	44	75.9%	115	89	77.4%
Kelso (R)	120	74	61.7%	151	87	57.6%	271	161	59.4%
Kingussie (R)	37	21	56.8%	45	22	48.9%	82	43	52.4%
Kirkcaldy (M)	1,886	1,021	54.1%	2,279	1,054	46.2%	4,165	2,075	49.8%
Kyle of Lochalsh (R)	31	22	71.0%	19	14	73.7%	50	36	72.0%
Lairg (R)	28	24	85.7%	28	19	67.9%	56	43	76.8%
Lanark (R )	819	509	62.1%	1,026	524	51.1%	1,845	1,033	56.0%
Lerwick (R)	218	153	70.2%	254	163	64.2%	472	316	66.9%
Livingston (M)	1,883	983	52.2%	2,266	1,073	47.4%	4,149	2,056	49.6%
Lochgilphead (R)	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Mallaig (R)	11	6	54.5%	14	9	64.3%	25	15	60.0%
Montrose (R)	273	156	57.1%	364	181	49.7%	637	337	52.9%
Newton Stewart (R)	117	59	50.4%	87	36	41.4%	204	95	46.6%
Oban (R)	167	103	61.7%	184	98	53.3%	351	201	57.3%
Orkney (R)	170	124	72.9%	191	146	76.4%	361	270	74.8%
Paisley (M)	2,845	1,348	47.4%	3,177	1,302	41.0%	6,022	2,650	44.0%
Peebles (R)	138	76	55.1%	133	75	56.4%	271	151	55.7%
Perth (M)	1,063	550	51.7%	1,059	481	45.4%	2,122	1,031	48.6%
Peterhead (M)	413	288	69.7%	463	258	55.7%	876	546	62.3%
Pitlochry (R)	48	31	64.6%	52	26	50.0%	100	57	57.0%
Rothesay (R)	52	35	67.3%	54	37	68.5%	106	72	67.9%
Stirling (M)	1,634	829	50.7%	1,742	765	43.9%	3,376	1,594	47.2%
Stornoway (R)	126	71	56.3%	156	83	53.2%	282	154	54.6%
Stranraer (R)	129	86	66.7%	195	108	55.4%	324	194	59.9%
Thurso (R)	147	92	62.6%	129	89	69.0%	276	181	65.6%
Ullapool (R)	28	15	53.6%	26	10	38.5%	54	25	46.3%
Wick (M)	83	53	63.9%	107	70	65.4%	190	123	64.7%
Scotland	57,590	29,817	51.8%	65,757	29,942	45.5%	123,347	59,759	48.4%

Source: Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency - Not National Statistics
(M) - Main Test Centre
(O) - Outstation
(R) - Remote Driving Test Centre
(T) - Taking Testing to the Customer site
Note: Centres where only one examiner has conducted tests have been removed from the details, though they have been included in the national totals.

Table 1.15 People who hold a full car driving licence ¹ by age

Note: This table has been removed as data are no longer available for Scotland. Latest Scottish estimates are given in table 1.16 although this is based on a different source.

 

 

Table 1.16 People who hold a full driving licence 2015

	Age group								All 17 +	Sample size
	17-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69	70-79	80+
	percentage of the relevant sub-group 1								number
All people:	26	54	72	82	78	76	62	43	68	9,340
by sex:
Men	28	55	73	85	84	83	76	67	73	4,210
Women	23	53	71	79	72	68	52	27	63	5,130
by annual net household income:
up to £ 10,000 p.a.	**	31	32	50	55	68	56	34	45	1,110
over £ 10,000, up to £ 15,000	**	37	45	46	53	66	51	37	49	1,670
over £ 15,000, up to £ 20,000	**	48	63	64	70	65	61	45	58	1,450
over £ 20,000, up to £ 25,000	**	49	62	85	71	73	71	59	68	1,100
over £ 25,000, up to £ 30,000	**	63	77	82	79	76	76	*	71	860
over £ 30,000, up to £ 40,000	**	68	83	87	86	92	76	*	80	1,250
over £40,000	**	81	87	97	93	94	93	*	89	1,600
by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation:
1 - Most Deprived	**	44	52	54	48	47	41	22	46	1,720
2	**	48	70	75	70	64	47	31	59	1,900
3	**	57	73	85	85	76	61	40	71	2,040
4	**	61	87	92	90	89	76	49	81	2,060
5 - Least Deprived	**	68	81	97	90	94	78	66	82	1,620
by urban / rural classification:
Large urban areas	18	52	65	78	71	68	47	40	61	2,740
Other urban areas	25	53	75	78	74	73	62	38	66	3,200
Accessible small towns	**	68	71	88	84	83	64	48	76	850
Remote small towns	**	56	66	65	78	75	67	43	64	580
Accessible rural areas	**	67	85	97	89	89	84	56	84	1,000
Remote rural areas	**	53	85	89	94	88	75	59	81	970
Sample size (age group)	190	1,070	1,310	1,470	1,680	1,700	1,220	700	9,340

Source: Scottish Household Survey. The interviewer asks whether the person holds a full driving licence (car or motorcycle).
1. The denominator includes people for whom it was not known, or not recorded, what type of driving licence (if any) was held.
** Estimates based on smaller sample sizes may be subject to larger levels of variation and therefore may see relatively large fluctuations over time.

 

 

Table 1.17 People who hold a full driving licence, 2005-2015

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
All people	percent of population 1
Age group
17-19	21	30	28	32	25	27	26	28	26	29	26
20-29	60	59	58	56	58	58	54	58	56	56	54
30-39	79	76	78	78	77	76	77	75	74	73	72
40-49	79	79	80	83	80	81	80	80	80	82	82
50-59	75	76	76	78	78	78	78	79	80	79	78
60-69	65	68	69	70	75	72	74	73	74	74	76
70-79	49	51	55	53	55	54	57	59	60	61	62
80+	27	29	35	31	37	37	35	37	41	40	43
All aged 17+	66	66	67	68	68	68	67	68	68	69	68
Sample size	13,970	14,075	12,152	12,267	12,447	12,361	12,801	9,828	9,838	9,720	9,340
Men
Age group
17-19	25	32	27	32	28	28	33	35	24	32	28
20-29	62	61	61	62	61	64	58	59	60	59	55
30-39	84	81	82	81	81	80	81	78	78	77	73
40-49	86	85	86	87	86	86	84	86	84	85	85
50-59	85	85	87	84	85	85	87	85	88	85	84
60-69	83	84	83	84	86	84	86	83	86	85	83
70-79	72	73	76	77	78	74	79	79	76	80	76
80+	47	56	61	55	60	59	60	63	64	66	67
All aged 17+	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	76	73
Sample size	5,920	6,056	5,211	5,289	5,400	5,450	5,515	4,377	4,405	4,410	4,210
Women
Age group
17-19	16	28	29	33	21	25	17	19	29	27	23
20-29	57	56	54	50	56	51	51	57	52	54	53
30-39	73	72	75	76	73	73	73	71	71	69	71
40-49	73	74	75	78	74	76	77	74	76	80	79
50-59	64	68	66	73	71	72	70	75	72	73	72
60-69	51	55	57	57	64	62	63	65	64	65	68
70-79	32	33	40	37	38	40	43	43	48	46	52
80+	16	14	21	16	22	21	19	22	26	23	27
All aged 17+	56	58	59	60	61	60	60	62	61	62	63
Sample size	8,050	8,019	6,941	6,978	7,047	6,911	7,286	5,451	5,433	5,320	5,130

Source: Scottish Household Survey. The interviewer asks whether the person holds a full driving licence (car or motorcycle).
1. The denominator includes people for whom it was not known, or not recorded, what type of driving licence (if any) was held.
Note: For some age groups the sample sizes are relatively small and so estimates can be subject to greater fluctuations over time.

Table 1.18 Households with the regular use of a car

Note: This table has been removed as data are no longer available for Scotland.

Latest Scottish estimates are given in table 1.19 although this is based on a different source.

 

 

Table 1.19 Households with a car available for private use1, 2005-2015²

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Cars available for private use:	percent of households
None	31.7	32.0	30.3	30.2	30.7	30.3	30.1	31.0 |	30.2	30.8	30.0
1	44.5	43.6	44.3	43.9	43.7	44.0	44.5	43.0 |	44.0	43.3	43.3
2	20.5	20.5	21.4	21.8	21.5	21.6	21.0	21.3 |	21.3	21.1	21.7
3+	3.3	3.8	4.0	4.0	4.2	4.1	4.4	4.6 |	4.6	4.7	5.1
1+	68.3	68.0	69.7	69.8	69.3	69.7	69.9	69.0 |	69.8	69.2	70.1
2+	23.8	24.4	25.3	25.8	25.6	25.7	25.4	26.0 |	25.8	25.9	26.8
Sample size	15,392	15,616	13,414	13,821	14,190	14,214	14,358	10,644	10,652	10,630	10,330

1. Source : Scottish Household Survey. Vans are not counted in this table.
2. From 2012 Q4 the question was changed to ask about access to cars / vans instead of just cars.

 

 

Table 1.20 Households with a car or van available for private use ¹, 2015

	Number of cars or vans available for private use						Sample size (=100%)
	None	1	2	3 +	1+	2 +
	percent of households
All households:	30.0	43.3	21.7	5.1	70.1	26.8	10,330
by household type:
Single adult	49.7	45.6	3.6	1.2	50.4	4.8	1,820
Small adult	20.4	40.4	35.1	4.1	79.6	39.2	1,650
Single parent	49.1	46.9	3.3	0.7	50.9	4.0	560
Small family	11.3	42.8	42.8	3.2	88.8	46.0	1,300
Large family	9.7	37.2	39.5	13.6	90.3	53.1	590
Large adult	13.1	24.8	34.7	27.4	86.9	62.1	890
Older smaller	14.8	58.6	24.1	2.4	85.1	26.5	1,760
Single pensioner	57.3	40.9	1.6	0.2	42.7	1.8	1,760
by annual net household income:
up to £10,000 p.a.	59.9	32.3	5.8	2.0	40.1	7.8	1,190
over £ 10,000, up to £ 15,000	53.2	39.9	6.1	0.8	46.8	6.9	1,770
over £ 15,000, up to £ 20,000	39.9	49.3	8.4	2.5	60.2	10.9	1,560
over £ 20,000, up to £ 25,000	26.1	55.0	16.0	2.8	73.8	18.8	1,210
over £ 25,000, up to £ 30,000	14.6	55.0	24.8	5.5	85.3	30.3	960
over £ 30,000, up to £ 40,000	7.9	47.1	37.0	7.9	92.0	44.9	1,430
over £40,000	3.0	33.1	51.2	12.7	97.0	63.9	1,870
by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation:
1 - Most Deprived	51.7	37.6	9.5	1.2	48.3	10.7	1,910
2	37.7	43.5	15.8	2.9	62.2	18.7	2,070
3	27.9	44.4	22.3	5.4	72.1	27.7	2,280
4	16.3	46.7	29.2	7.8	83.7	37.0	2,240
5 - Least Deprived	14.5	44.2	32.8	8.5	85.5	41.3	1,830
by urban / rural classification:
Large urban areas	40.1	40.9	16.2	2.8	59.9	19.0	3,090
Other urban areas	29.6	45.7	20.3	4.4	70.4	24.7	3,490
Accessible small towns	21.9	43.3	26.7	8.1	78.1	34.8	960
Remote small towns	29.6	47.2	18.0	5.2	70.4	23.2	620
Accessible rural areas	11.7	40.8	37.0	10.5	88.3	47.5	1,120
Remote rural areas	16.8	45.3	29.9	8.0	83.2	37.9	1,040

1. Source : Scottish Household Survey.

 

 

Table 1.21 Number of blue badges¹ on issue, time series and 2016 breakdown

	Time series2 (Totals)							Badges on issue as at 31st March 2016:
	as at 31st March							Organisations	Individuals - Automatic3	Individuals - Discretionary4
Council	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Aberdeen City	8,313	8,044	8,032	7,887	5,183	6,552	6,643	80	2,966	3,597
Aberdeenshire5	15,601	16,288	13,358	12,166	8,155	10,685	10,210	144	4,201	5,865
Angus	5,991	5,969	5,581	4,892	5,451	4,982	4,845	96	2,308	2,441
Argyll & Bute	4,828	4,438	4,314	3,867	3,433	3,934	4,114	98	1,729	2,287
Clackmannanshire	2,439	2,511	2,518	2,377	2,572	2,128	2,161	19	1,133	1,009
Dumfries & Galloway	3,606	2,922	3,369	3,212	3,096	9,236	9,338	88	3,872	5,378
Dundee City	6,086	6,199	6,766	5,776	5,252	5,292	5,452	93	2,848	2,511
East Ayrshire	6,976	6,819	6,787	6,098	5,735	6,595	6,427	54	3,251	3,122
East Dunbartonshire	5,421	4,738	5,175	2,905	4,847	4,473	4,661	67	1,888	2,706
East Lothian	5,059	5,059	4,328	5,131	5,293	4,680	4,712	11	1,917	2,784
East Renfrewshire	4,269	4,318	5,756	4,375	4,020	4,307	4,322	42	1,527	2,753
Edinburgh, City of 10	22,093	22,921	23,470	17,502	16,922	15,264	14,868	381	5,995	8,492
Eilean Siar	813	969	918	961	922	863	902	10	428	464
Falkirk	9,156	9,821	8,108	8,256	7,332	6,877	6,899	69	3,393	3,437
Fife	22,045	21,574	21,021	19,750	18,877	18,646	17,299	107	9,029	8,163
Glasgow, City of 6	29,522	24,761	27,317	23,692	19,350	21,784	21,642	287	11,745	9,610
Highland 7	11,282	7,445	12,967	9,938	10,855	9,164	9,215	118	3,806	5,291
Inverclyde	5,123	5,312	5,183	5,099	4,955	4,439	4,283	104	1,830	2,349
Midlothian	4,677	4,654	4,673	3,164	4,716	4,416	4,332	49	1,903	2,380
Moray	4,628	4,849	4,485	4,033	3,687	3,608	3,669	14	1,652	2,003
North Ayrshire	8,263	8,531	7,379	6,040	6,157	7,086	7,196	66	3,423	3,707
North Lanarkshire	19,804	19,019	18,013	16,957	18,352	16,453	15,741	82	8,488	7,171
Orkney Islands 8	1,216	1,143	1,281	1,108	1,050	1,119	1,096	26	379	691
Perth & Kinross	5,603	5,551	6,169	5,975	6,814	6,542	6,651	112	2,537	4,002
Renfrewshire	8,761	8,569	8,358	7,873	8,326	7,730	7,838	96	4,177	3,565
Scottish Borders 9	…	…	6,987	6,456	5,980	4,961	4,889	49	1,914	2,926
Shetland Islands	340	383	381	800	953	878	892	15	341	536
South Ayrshire	5,857	5,958	6,356	5,212	5,475	5,537	5,703	62	2,523	3,118
South Lanarkshire	18,217	19,245	15,274	15,602	15,826	16,218	16,218	99	7,863	8,256
Stirling	5,034	4,649	4,273	4,374	4,082	3,918	3,892	56	1,652	2,184
West Dunbartonshire	4,781	4,730	4,625	4,221	4,936	4,548	4,546	69	2,589	1,888
West Lothian	9,506	9,691	9,823	9,529	9,615	8,912	8,873	147	4,778	3,948
Total 9	265,310	257,080	263,045	245,035	228,219	231,827	229,529	2,810	108,085	118,634

Source: Scottish Government - Not National Statistics
1. Blue Badges for display on motor vehicles used by disabled persons were introduced on 1 April 2000.
2. Totals relate to the number of badges on issue as at 31st March that year. Data prior to 2008 not available.
3. The automatic category includes badges issued to individuals in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance, a War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement, a lump sum (tariffs 1-8) of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, or to blind or registered blind people. (Not subject to further assessment.)
4. Badges issued in the discretionary category to people with a substantial permanent or temporary disability who are unable or virtually unable to walk (Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 as amended).(May be subject to further assessment.)
5. Aberdeenshire introduced an electronic data capture system in 2010; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.
6. Glasgow changed data capture process in 2011; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.
7. Highland Council, in April 2010, introduced a fee for the first time which may have contributed to the decline in number of badges issued.
8. Orkney introduced an electronic system in 2009; therefore figures may not be comparable with previous years.
9. Scottish Borders data was reviewed in 2012. Data is not available for previous years and is therefore excluded from the totals. Scottish Borders is included in the 2012 totals
10. City of Edinburgh Council advised of error in 2013 total. Revised figure down from 27,309 to17,502

Table 1.22 Motor vehicle offences recorded by the police by type of offence

Discontinuities in the table

2013-14 is the first full reporting year since the establishment of Police Scotland. As a result, data is no longer returned by the eight legacy police force areas and instead comes from one central unit within Police Scotland, using their new performance management reporting tool. To ensure that the dataset produced from this new system is consistent with data returned from legacy police forces, an extensive quality assurance exercise has been carried out to closely compare the data held by the Scottish Government with that extracted from the new force system.

This exercise has identified a number of anomalies affecting comparability of the time series resulting in breaks in the series. Vertical lines between figures represent these breaks and comparisons should not be directly made between the two series. The Scottish Government is investigating these issues further and seeking a resolution. Should this be possible, the web tables on the Transport Scotland website will be updated with revised figures for the table below. Further information about these discontinuities can be found in the Technical report, entitled Recorded Crime: Comparability of Police Scotland and Legacy Force Data, available from http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport

 

Table 1.22 Motor vehicle offences recorded by the police by type of offence

Type of offence	2006/07	2007/08	2008/09	2009/10	2010/11	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15	2015/16
Serious Driving Offences
Dangerous driving	3,044	2,898	2,780	2,567	2,387	2,422	2,476	2,957	2,428	2,881
Careless driving	10,557	10,066	8,739	8,506	7,452	7,431	8,054	8,567	8,345	9,176
Drunk Driving of which:	11,704	10,697	9,800	8,504	7,563	7,445	6,433	6,079	5,218	5,458
Driving while unfit through drink/drugs	761	651	547	488	502	584	459	490	450	540
In charge while unfit through drink/drugs	111	107	88	78	59	63	52	92	54	71
Driving with excess blood alcohol	7,652	7,177	6,774	5,840	4,979	4,889	4,223	3,819	3,161	3,239
In charge with excess blood alcohol	754	640	566	471	484	433	445	419	390	364
Failing to provide breath specimen at the roadside	1,041	931	779	643	633	577	495	517	477	509
Failing to provide breath, blood or urine specimen at a police station	1,385	1,191	1,046	984	906	899	759	742	686	735
Failing to stop after accident	7,225	6,769	6,881	6,552	6,586	5,955	6,804	5,921	5,574	7,660
Driving while disqualified	3,676	3,075	2,659	2,048	1,640	1,466	1,311	1,208	898	1,162
Speeding Offences
Speeding in restricted areas	70,758	65,420	52,146	50,788	50,890	53,068	62,188 |	38,400	29,316	23,145
Other speeding offences2,3	93,068	72,956	65,984	63,438	63,948	73,078	62,079 |	44,350	31,937	31,593
Signal and Direction Offences
Traffic direction offences	22,911	24,477	26,995	31,281	34,195	31,786	34,404 |	26,539	16,307	11,253
Pedestrian crossing offences	3,767	3,120	3,499	4,137	3,944	4,317	4,537 |	3,776	2,268	1,644
Lighting, Construction & Use Offences
Lighting offences2	8,134	9,009	11,638	12,791	8,910	10,120	10,934 |	9,284	7,043	5,029
Construction & use regulations2	13,036	13,319	13,642	13,452	12,271	12,681	11,884 |	11,639	8,550	8,041
Documentation Offences
Vehicle excise licence offences	17,699	17,954	15,654	14,688	11,673	12,710	11,812 |	6,601	2,634	3,098
No test certificate2	8,399	10,264 |	11,640	11,836	10,788	11,650	12,380	18,546	15,528	14,609
Driving licence offences2	14,232	12,205 |	10,895	9,051	7,424	7,264	7,474	9,492	6,396	6,555
Third party insurance offences2	25,228	24,093 |	23,171	20,610	17,860	17,407	17,228	18,998	13,747	14,407
Registration/identification offences	3,824	6,064	5,222	5,397	4,520	3,879	3,375 |	2,934	1,652	1,639
Other Offences
Failure to provide information to identify driver2	852	1,088	1,082	1,069	1,206	1,230	971	1,528	1,394	1,474
Tachograph etc offences	2,603	3,954	5,440	3,779	2,437	1,972	2,025	1,635	1,560	1,682
Seat belt offences2	28,859	26,917 |	26,225	29,324	29,171	31,505	33,047	37,880	15,619	8,059
Mobile phone offences	18,876	18,218 |	23,957	26,146	27,736	29,110	30,875	35,764	17,978	10,085
Parking offences	382	328	298	332	171	177	158	143	105	163
Other offences	4,260	3,024	2,651	2,787	2,403	2,528	2048	1,850	1,488	1,484
Total offences1	373,094	345,915	330,998	329,083	315,175	329,201	332,497 |	294,091	195,985	170,297

Source: Recorded Crime, Scottish Government
Notes:
1. The full time series is no longer comparable, the vertical lines in the table represents the break in the series. Direct comparison between the period on either side of the break in the series should not be made. Further information can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PubRecordedCrime/TechnicalReport
2 A number of historic figures in these categories have been revised as a result of the quality assurance process noted above and will not match the figures presented in earlier editions of STS, further information can be found at the link in note 1.
3. Includes motorway and clearway offences, which previously appeared as a separate category under Other offences.

 

 

Table 1.23 Households with a car or van available by gender, 2011

				Total Number
	None	1	2+	(=100%)
	percent of people in households
All people in households:	23	40	37	5,196,386
Men	20	40	39	2,521,307
Women	25	40	35	2,675,079

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland

 

 

Table 1.24 Households with a car or van available, 2011

				Total Number
	None	1	2+	(=100%)
	percent of households
All households:	31	42	27	2,372,777
by selected household type:
Single adult (aged under 65)	48	48	4	511,447
Married or cohabiting family with dependent children	8	36	56	409,369
Married or cohabiting family with no children	11	44	44	413,022
Single parent	43	45	12	263,360
All students	63	27	10	20,928
Single pensioner	64	35	1	311,867
by tenure:
Owned outright	8	38	54	652,675
Owned with a mortgage or loan	6	38	56	1,585,110
Social rented (council)	49	38	13	372,920
Social rented (other)	53	37	10	317,812
Private rented (private landlord or letting agency)	41	40	18	421,264

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland

 

 

Table 1.25 Households with a car or van available by disability and ethnicity, 2011

				Total Number
	None	1	2+	(=100%)
	percent of people in households
All people in households:	23	40	37	5,196,386
by disability:
Day-to-day activites limited a lot	46	40	14	472,795
Day-to-day activites limited a little	34	42	23	523,272
Day-to-day activites not limited	19	40	42	4,200,319
by ethnicity:
White: Total	22	40	38	4,995,665
White: Scottish	22	40	38	4,382,131
White: Other British	16	41	43	403,604
White: Irish	27	40	33	52,086
White: Gypsy/Traveller	35	41	24	4,029
White: Polish	31	52	17	60,324
White: Other White	32	42	26	93,491
Mixed or multiple ethnic groups	26	42	32	19,068
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Total	27	38	35	133,506
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Pakistani, Pakistani Scottish or Pakistani British	16	36	48	48,968
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Indian, Indian Scottish or Indian British	29	38	33	31,442
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Bangladeshi, Bangladeshi Scottish or Bangladeshi British	32	41	27	3,710
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Chinese, Chinese Scottish or Chinese British	36	36	28	29,596
Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British: Other Asian	36	44	19	19,790
African	51	36	13	28,170
Caribbean or Black	39	39	22	6,279
Other ethnic groups: Total	34	43	23	13,698
Other ethnic groups: Arab, Arab Scottish or Arab British	36	42	21	8,959
Other ethnic groups: Other Ethnic Group	31	43	25	4,739

Source: Scottish Census 2011, National Records of Scotland