The number of people killed in reported road accidents in Scotland rose 11% in 2018 despite an equivalent decrease in overall casualties.

The number of people killed in reported road accidents in Scotland rose 11% in 2018, although overall casualties were down by the same amount

Final statistics for 2018 from Transport Scotland show that 161 people were killed in reported road accidents in Scotland in 2018, 16 more than in 2017. Meanwhile the number of people killed or seriously injured showed a slight increase (0.2%) from 2017, rising from 1,739 to 1,743.

However, a significant drop (13%) in slight casualties means that the total number of casualties fell by 11% between 2017 and 2018 from 9,433 to 8,411, the lowest number since records began. The number of people seriously injured decreased by 1% from 1,594 to 1,582.

The figures also show that Scotland’s overall 2018 road death rate of 30 per million population was the fifth lowest of 42 countries surveyed in provisional international comparisons.

Compared with England and Wales, Scotland’s 2018 casualty rates were 8% higher (killed), 28% lower (serious) and 40% lower (all severities).

The Reported Road Casualties data also highlights that car driver accident rates per head of population varied markedly by age and sex. In 2018, the overall rate was 1.7 accidents per thousand population aged 17+. The data also underscores that younger male drivers are at much higher risk of crashing. The highest accident rate was for males in the 17-25 age group, with a rate of 3.0 per thousand population in 2018; 1.5 times those of females of the same age (2.0 per thousand in 2018).