Data published by Transport Scotland has shown an increase in deaths caused by road collisions in 2024 compared to 2023, despite a reduction in overall casualties.
Whilst provisional figures were published in June, the Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2024, which was published earlier this week, shows that 161 people died in 2024 due to road collisions, an increase of 18 (12%) from revised figures for 2023.
This increase in deaths is also accompanied by a slight increase of 1% to 1,978,26 serious casualties in 2024, despite provisional figures suggesting there was a slight decrease.
However, slight casualties decreased by 4% (from 3,739 in 2023 to 3,595 in 2024) and the total number of casualties overall decreased by 2% (from 5,834 to 5,734).
Last year's results mark the third-lowest year for road deaths recorded, apart from 2020 and 2021, which saw reduced travel due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Scotland's transport secretary Fiona Hyslop said: ‘These figures, confirming the trends in the provisional statistics from earlier this year, are a painful reminder of the challenges we face on our roads. Every one of these statistics represents a person or household that has been changed forever. I refuse to accept that people being killed or injured on our roads is inevitable or acceptable, and my thoughts are with the families, friends and communities affected.
‘I want to be clear - road safety remains an absolute priority for the Scottish Government, and that is why we are investing a record £48m this financial year into roads safety activity and programmes. We are committed to funding safety improvements on trunk roads, supporting councils to take action on local roads, running high profile campaigns on key issues like speeding, motorcyclist safety and drink/drug driving, and investing in technology aimed at making our roads safer.
‘These efforts, as well as those of our road safety partners, are more important than ever and it's vital that we continue to work together at all levels to reach our target of Scotland having the best road safety performance in the world by 2030. The fall in pedestrian and cyclist deaths shows progress on that front.
‘I remain absolutely determined to save lives and ensure we continue working towards our long-term vision of no-one being killed or seriously injured on Scotland's roads by 2050.'
