Casualties by type of road

Figure 5 shows the number of casualties by road type. Built-up roads are those which have speed limits of up to 40 miles per hour (ignoring temporary speed limits on roads for which the normal speed limit is over 40 mph); non-built up roads have speed limits exceeding 40 miles per hour.

In 2021, non built-up roads accounted for over two-fifths of the total number of reported casualties (44%: 2,204 out of 5,023). However, they accounted for over two-thirds of those killed (69%: 96 out of 139) and over two fifths of the total number of seriously injured (46%: 739 out of 1,596). This will be at least in part due to the higher average speed on non built-up roads, and also because these roads make up two-thirds of Scotland's road network.

Compared with the 2014-18 average, total casualties on non built-up roads have reduced by 46% and built-up roads by 54%. However, the reduction in fatalities on non built-up roads was greater (at 22%) than for built-up roads (at 15%).

Figure 5: Number of casualties by road type, 2021.

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