Key Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2014

6. Casualties by Mode of Transport (Table 3)

6.1 Figures on numbers of casualties by mode should be compared with data on mode use since changes could be due to more or fewer people travelling by a particular mode. Information on mode use is published in the road traffic or personal travel sections of Scottish Transport Statistics (STS). Department for Transport (DfT) traffic estimates, STS show car traffic volumes fell by 2% between 2009 and 2013. Over the same period motorcycle/moped use fell by 11% and cycling volumes increased by 15%. Latest Scottish data by mode covers 2013, data for 2014 will be published in August 2015 in Transport and Travel in Scotland 2014 (http://bit.ly/TSStats-TATIS).

6.2 In 2014 there were 6,760 car users reported injured in road accidents; three fifths of all casualties (60%: 6,760 out of 11,240) and a 3% fall on 2013. Of these, 93 were killed and 688 seriously injured (an increase of 4% and a decrease of 5% on 2013 respectively). Non built-up roads accounted for just over half of all car user casualties (51%: 3,433 out of 6,760) but a much higher percentage of car user fatalities (80%: 74 out of 93) and those seriously injured (73%: 502 out of 688). Again likely due in part to higher average speeds on these types of roads.

6.3 There were 1,739 pedestrian casualties recorded in 2014, almost a sixth of all casualties (15%: 1,739 out of 11,240) and down by 8 (less than 0.5%) since 2013. Three per cent of pedestrian casualties were killed (56 out of 1,739) and 24% seriously injured (423 out of 1,739). 95% of pedestrian casualties occurred on built-up roads (1,658 out of 1,739). 46% of pedestrian casualties on non built-up roads were killed or seriously injured (37 out of 81) compared with 27% on built-up roads (442 out of 1,658).

6.4 Together, all other modes of transport accounted for a quarter (24%) of casualties in 2014 (2,741 out of 11,240), for a slightly higher proportion of those killed (26%: 51 out of 200) and a third of those seriously injured (34%: 583 out of 1,694).

6.5 Motorcycle casualty numbers increased by 6% compared to 2013 whilst pedal cycle casualties remained unchanged. In 2014, 819 motorcycle casualties were reported, of whom 319 (39% and an increase of 14% on 2013) suffered serious injuries, 31 died, an increase of eight on 2013. There were 885 pedal cyclist casualties recorded in 2014, 155 (18% and an increase of 5% on 2013) were seriously injured and 8 died (five less than in 2013).There are now more cyclists on the roads which will likely impact on cycling casualty numbers with numbers. There was an increase of 32% in pedal cycle traffic in the last ten years, as shown by the DfT traffic estimates published in Scottish Transport Statistics (http://bit.ly/TSStats-STS).

6.6 A total of 287 bus and coach users were reported injured (a reduction of 27% on 2013), of whom 27 (7 fewer than 2013) were seriously injured, one died.