Transport Scotland has fallen behind on key national road safety targets due for delivery in 2030.
Latest figures show progress is behind schedule when it comes to meeting fatalities and serious injuries targets - both of which need to be reduced by 50% from a 2014-2018 baseline.
In the area of child fatalities, Transport Scotland is roughly on the right trajectory to meet its 2030 target, while in the area of children seriously injured the performance is ahead of schedule. Both require a 60% reduction on the baseline.
The news follows what officials called a 'challenging time' for road safety, as 2024 saw road fatalities rise to 160, a 9% increase from the 147 in 2023.
However, the same period saw a decrease in total casualties by 4%, serious casualties by 1% and slight casualties by 7%.
'Transport Scotland and partners have a huge challenge ahead of us to ensure that we meet our ambitious casualty reduction targets by 2030,' officials said.
'Having reached the midpoint of the Road Safety Framework to 2030 (RSF2030), we remain committed as ever to achieving our goal for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and an ambitious long-term goal, Vision Zero, where no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050,' Transport Scotland officials added.
'Embedding the Safe System approach, which is regarded as international best practice in road safety delivery, will be fundamental to meeting our targets, and delivering our Safe System training to road safety practitioners in Scotland will support this.'
The national operator also said all delivery partners have resolved 'to be more bold and ambitious in bringing forward innovation and opportunities to minimise preventable casualties'. There was also a suggestion that a lack of funding in 'the current economic climate' would make life harder.
Transport Scotland said it would have to be 'more proactive in making evidenced and informed choices that will support streamlined approaches'.
The transport authority has set out a long list of road safety deliverables. Over the course of the 2024–2025 period, 27 of these action points were delivered; while a further 30 long-term remain ongoing and are being carried forward into the 2025–2026 period.
Transport Scotland also identified 27 new deliverables, which will be 'actively pursued by partners'.
Among the ongoing deliverables is the publication of findings and recommendations later this year, coming out of the public consultation on the National Speed Management Review.
