Chapter 6: Reported Injury Road Accidents
Chapter 6: Reported Injury Road Accidents
1. Introduction
1.1 This chapter provides information on injury road accidents which were reported to the police, such as the number and severity of accidents, the police force area in which the accidents occurred, the types of vehicle involved, the number and severity of casualties resulting from the accidents, and the costs of injury and non-injury accidents.
More information can be found in the Transport Scotland National Statistics publication Reported Road Casualties Scotland: http://bit.ly/TSStats-RRCS.
Key points
- There were 168 people killed in road accidents in 2015, 35 (17%) less than the previous year.
- There were 1,596 people recorded as seriously injured in road accidents in 2015, 108 (6%) less than in 2014.
- Just over three quarters of casualties in 2015 were car users or pedestrians. Sixty one per cent of casualties were car users and 15 per cent were pedestrians. Motorcycles and pedal cycles both accounted for 7 per cent.
2. Main Points
Accidents
2.1 There were 8,474 injury road accidents reported in 2015, 368 (4%) fewer than in 2014. The number of reported accidents has been falling over the past ten years, and in 2015 was 37% lower than in 2005; the lowest figure since current records began in 1970. There were 157 fatal accidents in 2015: 24 (13%) less than in 2014. The reported number of accidents in which someone was seriously injured, but no-one died decreased by 5% to 1,417 and the number of reported slight accidents (6,900) was 270(4%) fewer than the previous year. (Table 6.1)
2.2 In 2015, over one third of all reported injury road accidents (3,076: 36%) were on non-built up roads (speed limit of more than 40 m.p.h. - see Notes and Definitions section, page 225). However, such roads accounted for a higher proportion of fatal accidents (110: 70%), partly because speeds tend to be higher on non-built up roads than on built up roads. There was a decrease in accidents on non-built up roads (down by 2%) between 2014 and 2015 compared to a reduction in accidents on built up roads of 5%. (Table 6.1)
2.3 The long term trends in the number of injury road accidents reported between 2005 and 2015 varied between the Police Force divisions across Scotland, ranging from a 17% fall (West Lothian) to a 70% fall (Orkney). The figures for an area may fluctuate from year to year, especially in smaller areas, although the trends appear to be downwards. (Table 6.2)
2.4 There were 14,667 vehicles involved in reported injury road accidents in 2015. Three-quarters of them were cars (10,930: 75%); light goods vehicles were the next vehicle type most often involved in accidents (888: 6%), though pedal cycles are a similar proportion. (Table 6.3) Up until 2010, the number of motorcycles involved was higher than the number of pedal cycles but since then there has been a fall in motorcycle traffic and an increase in pedal cycle traffic. The number of vehicles involved in accidents should always be considered alongside the traffic estimates in Chapter 5.
For example there was an increase of 2 per cent in the numbers of pedal cycles involved in injury accidents between 2010 and 2015, however, over the same period it was estimated that the distance cycled increased by 15 per cent (see chapter 5 table 5.3).
Casualties
2.5 168 people were killed in road accidents in 2015, 35 (17%) less than the previous year. This was 42% less than the 2004-08 average, the time period used as the baseline for Scotland’s Road Safety Framework. (Table 6.4) Further analysis of progress against the Road Safety Framework Targets can be found in Reported Road Casualties Scotland.
2.6 There were 1,596 people recorded as seriously injured in road accidents in 2015, 108 (6%) less than in 2014, 39% less than the 2004-08 average. 9,204 people were recorded as slightly injured in 2015, 196 (2%) fewer than in 2014, and the lowest number since 1950. There were a total of 10,968 casualties in 2015, 339 (3%) lower than in 2014. (Table 6.4)
2.7 In the context of the total volume of traffic on the roads in Scotland, the 10,968 total casualties recorded represented 24.17 casualties per 100 million vehicle kilometres. The Road Safety Framework also monitors the numbers of slight injuries per 100 million vehicle kilometres. The 9,204 people who were recorded as slightly injured in 2015 represented 20.28 casualties per 100 million vehicle-kilometres. This was 38% below the overall slight casualty rate for the 2004-08 baseline period for Scotland’s Road Safety Framework. (Table 6.4)
Child casualties
2.8 There were 972 reported child casualties in 2015, representing 9% of the total number of casualties of all ages. There were 4 child fatalities, 139 children were seriously injured (57% less than the 2004-08 average), and 829 were classified as slightly injured. Due to the relatively small number of child fatalities, these are monitored using a three year average to remove the effect of year on year fluctuations. In the three years to 2015, there was an average of 7 child fatalities. The number of child serious casualties fell by 33 (19%) between 2014 and 2015. Slight casualties were down by 25 or 3%. (Table 6.4)
Casualty Rates & Costs
2.9 Table 6.5 provides road casualty rates per thousand population by age group and mode of transport. Overall, there were 2.04 casualties per thousand population in 2015. The casualty rate for children (0-15 years) was 1.07 per thousand population. However, the child and young adult pedestrian casualty rates (0.50 and 0.45 per thousand population respectively) were almost double the pedestrian casualty rate for adults (0.26). The young persons' (16-24 years) casualty rate in 2015 was 3.57 per thousand population, just under twice the rate for all ages. The young persons' casualty rate in cars (2.54 per thousand population) was almost double the rate for adults aged 25-59 (which was 1.48 per thousand population). The 16-24 age group also had higher pedestrian and motor cycle casualty rates than older people. Further information about the mid-year population estimates used to calculate these rates can be found at the National Records of Scotland, here http://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/population/population-estimates/mid-year-population-estimates (Table 6.5)
2.10 The cost of all road accidents (including damage only non-injury accidents) in 2015 is estimated at £1,130 million at 2015 prices. (Table 6.6)
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Built up roads | |||||||||||
Fatal | 76 | 83 | 71 | 82 | 56 | 56 | 61 | 64 | 44 | 67 | 47 |
Serious | 1,224 | 1,264 | 1,136 | 1,277 | 1,033 | 925 | 954 | 985 | 810 | 858 | 830 |
Fatal and Serious | 1,300 | 1,347 | 1,207 | 1,359 | 1,089 | 981 | 1,015 | 1,049 | 854 | 925 | 877 |
Slight | 7,087 | 6,850 | 6,575 | 6,105 | 5,902 | 5,360 | 5,344 | 5,116 | 4,909 | 4,787 | 4,521 |
All severities | 8,387 | 8,197 | 7,782 | 7,464 | 6,991 | 6,341 | 6,359 | 6,165 | 5,763 | 5,712 | 5,398 |
Non-built up roads | |||||||||||
Fatal | 188 | 210 | 184 | 163 | 140 | 133 | 114 | 98 | 115 | 114 | 110 |
Serious | 1,028 | 993 | 913 | 965 | 965 | 788 | 722 | 751 | 619 | 633 | 587 |
Fatal and Serious | 1,216 | 1,203 | 1,097 | 1,128 | 1,105 | 921 | 836 | 849 | 734 | 747 | 697 |
Slight | 3,835 | 3,710 | 3,628 | 3,567 | 3,460 | 3,033 | 2,790 | 2,763 | 2,491 | 2,383 | 2,379 |
All severities | 5,051 | 4,913 | 4,725 | 4,695 | 4,565 | 3,954 | 3,626 | 3,612 | 3,225 | 3,130 | 3,076 |
All roads | |||||||||||
Fatal | 264 | 293 | 255 | 245 | 196 | 189 | 175 | 162 | 159 | 181 | 157 |
Serious | 2,252 | 2,257 | 2,049 | 2,242 | 1,998 | 1,713 | 1,676 | 1,736 | 1,429 | 1,491 | 1,417 |
Fatal and Serious | 2,516 | 2,550 | 2,304 | 2,487 | 2,194 | 1,902 | 1,851 | 1,898 | 1,588 | 1,672 | 1,574 |
Slight | 10,922 | 10,560 | 10,203 | 9,672 | 9,362 | 8,393 | 8,134 | 7,879 | 7,400 | 7,170 | 6,900 |
All severities | 13,438 | 13,110 | 12,507 | 12,159 | 11,556 | 10,295 | 9,985 | 9,777 | 8,988 | 8,842 | 8,474 |
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aberdeen City | 431 | 393 | 408 | 514 | 445 | 350 | 364 | 385 | 354 | 272 | 228 |
Aberdeenshire & Moray | 772 | 715 | 807 | 886 | 884 | 740 | 655 | 662 | 590 | 518 | 429 |
Aberdeenshire | 606 | 552 | 632 | 692 | 687 | 599 | 518 | 533 | 467 | 424 | 347 |
Moray | 166 | 163 | 175 | 194 | 197 | 141 | 137 | 129 | 123 | 94 | 82 |
Tayside | 977 | 1,021 | 927 | 931 | 909 | 741 | 750 | 742 | 641 | 534 | 475 |
Angus | 306 | 280 | 284 | 286 | 232 | 192 | 220 | 202 | 178 | 141 | 144 |
Dundee City | 270 | 332 | 253 | 270 | 281 | 219 | 237 | 227 | 185 | 168 | 131 |
Perth & Kinross | 401 | 409 | 390 | 375 | 396 | 330 | 293 | 313 | 278 | 225 | 200 |
Argyll & West Dunbartonshire | 550 | 535 | 469 | 436 | 455 | 436 | 377 | 344 | 350 | 304 | 345 |
Argyll & Bute | 323 | 310 | 268 | 288 | 282 | 275 | 232 | 211 | 208 | 193 | 227 |
West Dunbartonshire | 227 | 225 | 201 | 148 | 173 | 161 | 145 | 133 | 142 | 111 | 118 |
Forth Valley | 657 | 701 | 675 | 680 | 634 | 538 | 545 | 568 | 559 | 462 | 508 |
Clackmannanshire | 83 | 102 | 88 | 85 | 77 | 69 | 64 | 84 | 69 | 62 | 62 |
Falkirk | 310 | 285 | 297 | 310 | 303 | 240 | 261 | 270 | 251 | 232 | 249 |
Stirling | 264 | 314 | 290 | 285 | 254 | 229 | 220 | 214 | 239 | 168 | 197 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 497 | 443 | 475 | 419 | 388 | 360 | 319 | 320 | 300 | 311 | 276 |
Ayrshire | 853 | 807 | 766 | 698 | 706 | 576 | 653 | 580 | 540 | 543 | 589 |
East Ayrshire | 261 | 256 | 240 | 230 | 215 | 201 | 204 | 173 | 163 | 165 | 205 |
North Ayrshire | 308 | 280 | 264 | 248 | 225 | 177 | 230 | 205 | 190 | 179 | 191 |
South Ayrshire | 284 | 271 | 262 | 220 | 266 | 198 | 219 | 202 | 187 | 199 | 193 |
Greater Glasgow | 2,271 | 2,197 | 2,052 | 1,901 | 1,761 | 1,581 | 1,539 | 1,527 | 1,283 | 1,435 | 1,390 |
East Dunbartonshire | 190 | 186 | 149 | 141 | 147 | 141 | 140 | 114 | 104 | 102 | 96 |
East Renfrewshire | 127 | 138 | 119 | 109 | 103 | 104 | 116 | 97 | 98 | 93 | 94 |
Glasgow City | 1,954 | 1,873 | 1,784 | 1,651 | 1,511 | 1,336 | 1,283 | 1,316 | 1,081 | 1,240 | 1200 |
Lothians & Scottish Borders | 1,370 | 1,304 | 1,180 | 1,257 | 1,152 | 1,083 | 994 | 1,029 | 943 | 900 | 973 |
East Lothian | 206 | 217 | 210 | 193 | 174 | 199 | 159 | 170 | 154 | 179 | 158 |
Midlothian | 233 | 236 | 210 | 221 | 207 | 193 | 177 | 216 | 164 | 187 | 190 |
Scottish Borders | 448 | 371 | 336 | 383 | 363 | 307 | 274 | 263 | 255 | 221 | 222 |
West Lothian | 483 | 480 | 424 | 460 | 408 | 384 | 384 | 380 | 370 | 313 | 403 |
Edinburgh | 1,405 | 1,445 | 1,330 | 1,285 | 1,192 | 1,179 | 1,181 | 1,167 | 1,158 | 1,264 | 1111 |
Highlands & Islands | 784 | 747 | 738 | 702 | 724 | 574 | 568 | 594 | 512 | 516 | 449 |
Eilean Siar | 41 | 41 | 44 | 60 | 39 | 42 | 35 | 28 | 20 | 37 | 32 |
Highland | 657 | 621 | 626 | 586 | 616 | 475 | 488 | 514 | 444 | 431 | 380 |
Orkney Islands | 40 | 40 | 27 | 36 | 27 | 27 | 13 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 12 |
Shetland Islands | 46 | 45 | 41 | 20 | 42 | 30 | 32 | 30 | 25 | 24 | 25 |
Fife | 701 | 677 | 606 | 576 | 588 | 556 | 448 | 421 | 420 | 411 | 428 |
Renfrewshire & Inverclyde | 640 | 654 | 631 | 565 | 458 | 485 | 509 | 472 | 374 | 387 | 367 |
Inverclyde | 172 | 199 | 206 | 195 | 146 | 165 | 155 | 136 | 120 | 130 | 109 |
Renfrewshire | 468 | 455 | 425 | 370 | 312 | 320 | 354 | 336 | 254 | 257 | 258 |
Lanarkshire | 1,530 | 1,471 | 1,443 | 1,309 | 1,260 | 1,096 | 1,083 | 966 | 964 | 985 | 906 |
North Lanarkshire | 791 | 750 | 754 | 639 | 664 | 585 | 569 | 512 | 506 | 480 | 448 |
South Lanarkshire | 739 | 721 | 689 | 670 | 596 | 511 | 514 | 454 | 458 | 505 | 458 |
Scotland | 13,438 | 13,110 | 12,507 | 12,159 | 11,556 | 10,295 | 9,985 | 9,777 | 8,988 | 8,842 | 8,474 |
2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pedal cycle | 808 | 801 | 740 | 768 | 821 | 810 | 855 | 934 | 919 | 923 | 825 |
Motor cycle1 | 1,098 | 1,091 | 1,109 | 1,050 | 1,038 | 859 | 828 | 890 | 777 | 836 | 737 |
Car | 16,770 | 16,398 | 15,585 | 15,061 | 14,578 | 12,805 | 12,400 | 12,214 | 11,236 | 11,195 | 10,930 |
Taxi | 469 | 474 | 413 | 367 | 391 | 355 | 387 | 333 | 327 | 310 | 269 |
Minibus | 84 | 87 | 74 | 65 | 79 | 57 | 52 | 54 | 39 | 43 | 36 |
Bus/coach | 1,040 | 979 | 836 | 796 | 697 | 611 | 617 | 520 | 469 | 433 | 389 |
Light goods | 912 | 923 | 924 | 918 | 760 | 752 | 784 | 806 | 877 | 876 | 888 |
Heavy goods | 739 | 697 | 643 | 654 | 554 | 546 | 464 | 453 | 408 | 420 | 384 |
Other | 556 | 509 | 480 | 541 | 469 | 447 | 365 | 326 | 269 | 259 | 209 |
Total | 22,476 | 21,959 | 20,804 | 20,220 | 19,387 | 17,242 | 16,752 | 16,530 | 15,321 | 15,295 | 14,667 |
1. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles.
Child casualties | All casualties1 | Slight casualty rate per 100 million veh-kms | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Killed | Serious injury | Killed & Serious | Slight injury | Total | Killed | Serious injury | Killed & Serious | Slight injury | Total | ||
2004-08 average | 15 | 325.4 | 341 | 1,678 | 2,019 | 292 | 2,605 | 2,897 | 14,200 | 17,097 | 32.47 |
2003 | 17 | 415 | 432 | 2,048 | 2,480 | 336 | 2,957 | 3,293 | 15,463 | 18,756 | 36.78 |
2004 | 12 | 372 | 384 | 2,011 | 2,395 | 308 | 2,766 | 3,074 | 15,428 | 18,502 | 36.13 |
2005 | 11 | 356 | 367 | 1,796 | 2,163 | 286 | 2,666 | 2,952 | 14,933 | 17,885 | 34.96 |
2006 | 25 | 350 | 375 | 1,646 | 2,021 | 314 | 2,635 | 2,949 | 14,320 | 17,269 | 32.46 |
2007 | 9 | 269 | 278 | 1,538 | 1,816 | 281 | 2,385 | 2,666 | 13,573 | 16,239 | 30.39 |
2008 | 20 | 279 | 299 | 1,390 | 1,689 | 270 | 2,575 | 2,845 | 12,747 | 15,592 | 28.66 |
2009 | 5 | 253 | 258 | 1,215 | 1,473 | 216 | 2,287 | 2,503 | 12,540 | 15,043 | 28.36 |
2010 | 4 | 223 | 227 | 1,151 | 1,378 | 208 | 1,969 | 2,177 | 11,161 | 13,338 | 25.66 |
2011 | 7 | 203 | 210 | 1,106 | 1,316 | 185 | 1,880 | 2,065 | 10,721 | 12,786 | 24.71 |
2012 | 2 | 194 | 196 | 971 | 1,167 | 176 | 1,981 | 2,157 | 10,555 | 12,712 | 24.24 |
2013 | 9 | 143 | 152 | 904 | 1,056 | 172 | 1,671 | 1,843 | 9,659 | 11,502 | 22.03 |
2014 | 7 | 172 | 179 | 854 | 1,033 | 203 | 1,704 | 1,907 | 9,400 | 11,307 | 20.96 |
2015 | 4 | 139 | 143 | 829 | 972 | 168 | 1,596 | 1,764 | 9,204 | 10,968 | 20.28 |
Per cent change: 2015 on 2004-08 average | -74 | -57 | -58 | -51 | -52 | -42 | -39 | -39 | -35 | -36 | -38 |
1. Including those casualties whose age was not known.
Numbers | Rates per 1,000 population | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age not known | Children 0-15 | Young Persons 16-24 | Adults 25-59 | Older Adults 60+ | Total | Children 0-15 | Young Persons 16-24 | Adults 25-59 | Older Adults 60+ | Total | |
Pedestrian | 0 | 460 | 275 | 625 | 334 | 1,694 | .50 | .45 | .25 | .26 | .32 |
Pedal cycle | 1 | 71 | 89 | 591 | 42 | 794 | .08 | .14 | .23 | .03 | .15 |
Motorcycle | 1 | 1 | 165 | 517 | 50 | 734 | .00 | .27 | .20 | .04 | .14 |
Car | 6 | 378 | 1,562 | 3,761 | 1,005 | 6,712 | .41 | 2.54 | 1.48 | .77 | 1.25 |
Taxi | 0 | 10 | 14 | 86 | 26 | 136 | .01 | .02 | .03 | .02 | .03 |
Minibus | 0 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 4 | 27 | .00 | .01 | .01 | .00 | .01 |
Bus/Coach | 0 | 42 | 21 | 114 | 155 | 332 | .05 | .03 | .04 | .12 | .06 |
Light goods | 0 | 4 | 51 | 268 | 31 | 354 | .00 | .08 | .11 | .02 | .07 |
Heavy goods | 1 | 0 | 3 | 97 | 15 | 116 | .00 | .00 | .04 | .01 | .02 |
Other1 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 42 | 14 | 69 | .00 | .02 | .02 | .01 | .01 |
Total | 9 | 972 | 2,196 | 6,115 | 1,676 | 10,968 | 1.07 | 3.57 | 2.40 | 1.29 | 2.04 |
1. Including any casualties whose mode of transport is not known
Injury Accidents | All injury accidents | Damage only accidents | All accidents | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Motorway | Non Built-up | Built-up | ||||
£ million at 2015 prices | ||||||
2005 | 49.4 | 765.8 | 614.9 | 1,430.0 | 431.7 | 1,861.7 |
2006 | 42.9 | 801.1 | 621.9 | 1,465.9 | 421.3 | 1,887.2 |
2007 | 46.7 | 724.9 | 561.8 | 1,333.4 | 401.5 | 1,734.9 |
2008 | 46.8 | 691.3 | 600.5 | 1,338.6 | 389.0 | 1,727.5 |
2009 | 49.0 | 618.4 | 499.2 | 1,166.6 | 368.4 | 1,535.0 |
2010 | 32.1 | 566.9 | 455.2 | 1,054.2 | 329.6 | 1,383.8 |
2011 | 39.8 | 473.1 | 469.1 | 982.0 | 322.3 | 1,304.3 |
2012 | 31.8 | 471.1 | 480.0 | 982.8 | 314.8 | 1,297.6 |
2013 | 35.3 | 461.2 | 393.0 | 889.6 | 290.7 | 1,180.2 |
2014 | 35.1 | 462.9 | 453.4 | 951.3 | 286.4 | 1,237.8 |
2015 | 47.4 | 416.1 | 393.3 | 856.8 | 273.4 | 1,130.2 |