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Scotland exceeds road casualty reduction target |
Killed or seriously injured casualties fell by 55 per cent
Scotland has exceeded target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 40 per cent by 2010.
The reduction of killed or seriously injured casualties actually fell by 55 per cent.
Provisional figures published by the Scottish Government reveal that 208 people were killed in reported road accidents in Scotland in 2010, four per cent fewer than in 2009, and 1,960 people were seriously injured, 14 per cent fewer than the previous year.
A total of 11,156 people were slightly injured, representing a reduction of 11 per cent.
Another target to be achieved by 2010 was a 50 per cent reduction in the number of children who were killed or seriously injured on the roads. In Scotland, this target was also exceeded, with a 73 per cent reduction.
The country also exceeded a target for reducing the slight casualty rate.
From 2009 to 2010, there was no change in the number of pedestrians killed and two more cyclists were killed. The number of female fatalities rose by 15 per cent and from 2009 to 2010, the overall reduction in fatalities of four per cent was much less than reductions seen in previous years.
Kathleen Braidwood, road safety officer at RoSPA Scotland, said: "Scotland is now working towards a new set of casualty reduction targets set out in Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020, which was published in 2009."
"This document was the first to set specific targets for Scotland, as opposed to Great Britain as a whole." And they are challenging targets - a 40 per cent reduction in fatalities; a 55 per cent reduction in seriously injured casualties; a 50 per cent reduction in under-16s killed; and a 65 per cent reduction in under-16s seriously injured."
Further information:
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents |
