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 191 people killed in road accidents in 2016, 23 (14%) more than the previous year.
• There were 1,697 people recorded as seriously injured in road accidents in 2016, 97 (6%) more than in 2015.
• Just over three quarters of casualties in 2016 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 8,360 injury road accidents reported in 2016, 119 (1%) fewer than in 2015. The number of reported accidents has been falling over the past ten years, and in 2016 was 36% lower than in 2006; the lowest figure since current records began in 1970. There were 175 fatal accidents in 2016: 18 (11%) more than in 2015. The reported number of accidents in which someone was seriously injured, but no-one died increased by 1% to 1,432 and the number of reported slight accidents (6,753) was 149(2%) fewer than the previous year. (Table 6.1)

2.2 In 2016, over one third of all reported injury road accidents (2,888: 35%) 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 (131: 75%), 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 6%) between 2015 and 2016 compared to an increase in accidents on built up roads of 1%. (Table 6.1)

2.3 The long term trends in the number of injury road accidents reported between 2006 and 2016 varied between the Police Force divisions across Scotland, ranging from a 18% fall (Falkirk) to a 60% fall (Angus). 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 14,760 vehicles involved in reported injury road accidents in 2016. Three-quarters of them were cars (11,088: 75%); light goods vehicles were the next vehicle type most often involved in accidents (908: 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 decrease of 5 per cent in the numbers of pedal cycles involved in injury accidents between 2011 and 2016, however, over the same period it was estimated that the distance cycled increased by 15 per cent (see chapter 5 table 5.3).

Casualties

2.5 191 people were killed in road accidents in 2016, 23 (14%) more than the previous year. This was 35% 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 1,697 people recorded as seriously injured in road accidents in 2016, 97 (6%) more than in 2015, 35% less than the 2004-08 average. 9,013 people were recorded as slightly injured in 2016, 192 (2%) fewer than in 2015, and the lowest number since 1950. There were a total of 10,901 casualties in 2016, 72 (1%) lower than in 2015. (Table 6.4)

2.7 In the context of the total volume of traffic on the roads in Scotland, the 10,901 total casualties recorded represented 23.47 casualties per 100 million vehicle kilometres. The Road Safety Framework also monitors the numbers of slight injuries per 100 million vehicle kilometres. The 9,013 people who were recorded as slightly injured in 2016 represented 19.41 casualties per 100 million vehicle-kilometres. This was 40% 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 1,000 reported child casualties in 2016, representing 9% of the total number of casualties of all ages. There were 12 child fatalities, 167 children were seriously injured (49% less than the 2004-08 average), and 821 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 2016, there was an average of 8 child fatalities. The number of child serious casualties increased by 28 (20%) between 2015 and 2016. Slight casualties were down by 2. (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 2.02 casualties per thousand population in 2016. The casualty rate for children (0-15 years) was 1.09 per thousand population. However, the child and young adult pedestrian casualty rates (0.52 and 0.41 per thousand population respectively) were almost double the pedestrian casualty rate for adults (0.25). The young persons' (16-24 years) casualty rate in 2016 was 3.46 per thousand population, just under twice the rate for all ages. The young persons' casualty rate in cars (2.45 per thousand population) was almost double the rate for adults aged 25-59 (which was 1.47 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 2016 is estimated at £1,156 million at 2016 prices. (Table 6.6)

Table 6.1    Reported accidents by type of road and severity

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Built up roads
Fatal	83	71	82	56	56	61	64	44	67	47	44
Serious	1,264	1,136	1,277	1,033	925	954	985	810	856	833	816
Fatal and Serious	1,347	1,207	1,359	1,089	981	1,015	1,049	854	923	880	860
Slight	6,850	6,575	6,105	5,902	5,360	5,344	5,116	4,907	4,787	4,523	4,612
All severities	8,197	7,782	7,464	6,991	6,341	6,359	6,165	5,761	5,710	5,403	5,472
Non-built up roads
Fatal	210	184	163	140	133	114	98	115	114	110	131
Serious	993	913	965	965	788	722	751	619	634	587	616
Fatal and Serious	1,203	1,097	1,128	1,105	921	836	849	734	748	697	747
Slight	3,710	3,628	3,567	3,460	3,033	2,790	2,763	2,493	2,383	2,379	2,141
All severities	4,913	4,725	4,695	4,565	3,954	3,626	3,612	3,227	3,131	3,076	2,888
All roads
Fatal	293	255	245	196	189	175	162	159	181	157	175
Serious	2,257	2,049	2,242	1,998	1,713	1,676	1,736	1,429	1,490	1,420	1,432
Fatal and Serious	2,550	2,304	2,487	2,194	1,902	1,851	1,898	1,588	1,671	1,577	1,607
Slight	10,560	10,203	9,672	9,362	8,393	8,134	7,879	7,400	7,170	6,902	6,753
All severities	13,110	12,507	12,159	11,556	10,295	9,985	9,777	8,988	8,841	8,479	8,360

Table 6.2   Reported accidents by police force division and local authority area

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
North East 1	1,108	1,215	1,400	1,329	1,090	1,019	1,047	944	790	659	583
Aberdeen City	393	408	514	445	350	364	385	356	272	230	175
Aberdeenshire	552	632	692	687	599	518	533	465	424	347	334
Moray	163	175	194	197	141	137	129	123	94	82	74
Tayside	1,021	927	931	909	741	750	742	641	534	474	424
Angus	280	284	286	232	192	220	202	178	141	145	112
Dundee City	332	253	270	281	219	237	227	185	168	127	136
Perth & Kinross	409	390	375	396	330	293	313	278	225	202	176
Argyll & West Dunbartonshire	535	469	436	455	436	377	344	350	304	345	306
Argyll & Bute	310	268	288	282	275	232	211	208	193	227	178
West Dunbartonshire	225	201	148	173	161	145	133	142	111	118	128
Forth Valley	701	675	680	634	538	545	568	556	458	508	481
Clackmannanshire	102	88	85	77	69	64	84	69	62	62	69
Falkirk	285	297	310	303	240	261	270	248	228	249	235
Stirling	314	290	285	254	229	220	214	239	168	197	177
Dumfries & Galloway	443	475	419	388	360	319	320	303	312	277	270
Ayrshire	807	766	698	706	576	653	580	540	543	589	570
East Ayrshire	256	240	230	215	201	204	173	164	166	205	179
North Ayrshire	280	264	248	225	177	230	205	188	178	191	186
South Ayrshire	271	262	220	266	198	219	202	188	199	193	205
Greater Glasgow	2,197	2,052	1,901	1,761	1,581	1,539	1,527	1,281	1,436	1,394	1,466
East Dunbartonshire	186	149	141	147	141	140	114	102	101	94	94
East Renfrewshire	138	119	109	103	104	116	97	98	93	95	95
Glasgow City	1,873	1,784	1,651	1,511	1,336	1,283	1,316	1,081	1,242	1205	1277
Lothians & Scottish Borders	1,304	1,180	1,257	1,152	1,083	994	1,029	943	900	972	855
East Lothian	217	210	193	174	199	159	170	154	179	158	157
Midlothian	236	210	221	207	193	177	216	164	187	190	166
Scottish Borders	371	336	383	363	307	274	263	255	221	221	202
West Lothian	480	424	460	408	384	384	380	370	313	403	330
Edinburgh	1,445	1,330	1,285	1,192	1,179	1,181	1,167	1,158	1,264	1111	1143
Highlands & Islands	747	738	702	724	574	568	594	512	517	449	461
Eilean Siar	41	44	60	39	42	35	28	20	37	32	24
Highland	621	626	586	616	475	488	514	444	432	380	386
Orkney Islands	40	27	36	27	27	13	22	23	24	12	25
Shetland Islands	45	41	20	42	30	32	30	25	24	25	26
Fife	677	606	576	588	556	448	421	420	411	428	452
Renfrewshire & Inverclyde	654	631	565	458	485	509	472	374	387	368	399
Inverclyde	199	206	195	146	165	155	136	120	130	109	112
Renfrewshire	455	425	370	312	320	354	336	254	257	259	287
Lanarkshire	1,471	1,443	1,309	1,260	1,096	1,083	966	966	985	905	950
North Lanarkshire	750	754	639	664	585	569	512	508	480	447	484
South Lanarkshire	721	689	670	596	511	514	454	458	505	458	466
Scotland	13,110	12,507	12,159	11,556	10,295	9,985	9,777	8,988	8,841	8,479	8,360

Note: Detailed figures for casualties by local authority area can be found in Reported Road Casualties Scotland table B
1. In 2015 the police created a new North East division by combining Aberdeen City, Moray and Aberdeenshire councils.

Table 6.3      Reported vehicles involved by type of vehicle 

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Pedal cycle	801	740	768	821	810	855	934	920	924	829	808
Motor cycle1	1,091	1,109	1,050	1,038	859	828	890	777	835	737	711
Car	16,398	15,585	15,061	14,578	12,805	12,400	12,214	11,234	11,197	10,935	11,088
Taxi	474	413	367	391	355	387	333	327	310	270	303
Minibus	87	74	65	79	57	52	54	39	43	36	52
Bus/coach	979	836	796	697	611	617	520	469	433	389	395
Light goods	923	924	918	760	752	784	806	877	876	888	908
Heavy goods	697	643	654	554	546	464	453	408	420	384	322
Other	509	480	541	469	447	365	326	270	258	208	173
Total	21,959	20,804	20,220	19,387	17,242	16,752	16,530	15,321	15,296	14,676	14,760

1. Includes all two wheeled motor vehicles.

Table 6.4    Reported child casualties and all casualties, by severity; and the slight casualty rate

	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
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	142	151	902	1,053	172	1,671	1,843	9,659	11,502	22.03
2014	7	171	178	853	1,031	203	1,703	1,906	9,402	11,308	20.97
2015	4	139	143	823	966	168	1,600	1,768	9,205	10,973	20.29
2016	12	167	179	821	1,000	191	1,697	1,888	9,013	10,901	19.41
	7.666666667	20.14388489
Per cent change:
2016 on 2004-08
average	-22	-49	-47	-51	-50	-35	-35	-35	-37	-36	-40

1. Including those casualties whose age was not known.

Table 6.5  Reported casualties by mode of transport and age group, 2016

	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	4	477	247	603	335	1,666	.52	.41	.24	.25	.31
Pedal cycle	4	55	110	562	59	790	.06	.18	.22	.04	.15
Motorcycle	1	7	147	504	51	710	.01	.24	.20	.04	.13
Car	7	421	1,490	3,767	1,014	6,699	.46	2.45	1.47	.77	1.24
Taxi	0	4	14	112	23	153	.00	.02	.04	.02	.03
Minibus	0	1	9	26	12	48	.00	.01	.01	.01	.01
Bus/Coach	0	20	21	121	139	301	.02	.03	.05	.11	.06
Light goods	0	13	44	307	26	390	.01	.07	.12	.02	.07
Heavy goods	0	1	5	71	6	83	.00	.01	.03	.00	.02
Other1	0	1	12	36	12	61	.00	.02	.01	.01	.01
Total	16	1,000	2,099	6,109	1,677	10,901	1.09	3.46	2.39	1.27	2.02

1. Including any casualties whose mode of transport is not known

Table 6.6   Costs of injury accidents by type of road, and of 'damage only' accidents

	Injury Accidents			All injury accidents	Damage only accidents	All accidents
	Motorway	Non Built-up	Built-up
	£ million at 2016 prices
2006	41.6	778.1	604.1	1,423.8	409.4	1,833.2
2007	45.3	704.1	545.7	1,295.1	390.1	1,685.2
2008	45.5	671.4	583.3	1,300.2	377.9	1,678.1
2009	47.6	600.7	484.9	1,133.2	358.0	1,491.1
2010	31.2	550.6	442.2	1,024.0	320.2	1,344.2
2011	38.6	459.5	455.7	953.8	313.2	1,267.0
2012	30.9	457.5	466.2	954.6	305.9	1,260.5
2013	34.3	448.0	381.7	864.1	282.4	1,146.4
2014	34.1	449.8	440.0	923.9	278.3	1,202.1
2015	46.1	404.2	382.9	833.2	265.8	1,099.0
2016	42.9	478.3	371.0	892.1	264.0	1,156.1