Finalised road traffic statistics for 2018 confirm that the number of people killed or seriously injured in reported road incidents in Scotland in 2018 increased slightly from 2017, rising from 1,739 to 1,743.
The Reported Road Casualties publication released by Transport Scotland confirms that 161 people were killed in reported road incidents in Scotland in 2018, 16 more than in 2017. The number of people seriously injured decreased by one percent from 1,594 to 1,582. A significant drop in slight casualties means that the total number of casualties fell by eleven percent between 2017 and 2018 from 9,433 to 8,411, the lowest number since records began.
Other key findings:
- Car driver incident rates per head of population varied markedly by age and sex. In 2018, the overall rate was 1.7 incidents per thousand population aged 17+. The highest rate was for males in the 17-25 age group, with a rate of 3.0 per thousand population in 2018. This rate is one-and-a-half times those of females of the same age (2.0 per thousand in 2018).
- In 2018, Scotland’s overall road death rate of 30 per million population was the fifth lowest of 42 countries surveyed in provisional international comparisons.
- Compared with England and Wales, Scotland’s 2018 casualty rates were eight percent higher (killed), 28 percent lower (serious) and 40 percent lower (all severities).
- In 2018, there were 753 child casualties in reported road incidents, a decrease of 16 percent since 2017. This included three fatalities, one more than 2017, and 142 children who were seriously injured, down from 153 in 2017.
The full publication is available on the Transport Scotland website
