Number of road deaths in Scotland falls by 17 per cent

The number of road accidents in Scotland has dropped sharply in the past 20 years - despite an increase in traffic. Picture: Phil Wilkinson / TSPL

Transport Scotland said there were 168 fatalities in 2015, while a further 10,968 were injured - the lowest number since records began and a three per cent fall from 2014.

The number of people seriously injured also decreased by six per cent to 1,596.

There were 972 child casualties in reported road accidents - down six per cent since 2014, including four fatalities.

The number of cyclists killed on the road fell from eight in 2014 to five last year, but the number seriously injured rose from 159 to 164.

Pedestrian deaths also fell slightly, from 423 to 421.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf said: “Scotland’s road safety framework has an ultimate vision of zero fatalities on our roads and one life lost on our roads is one too many.

“These latest figures confirm the downward trend in road casualties, that key milestone reductions are being met and we are on track to continue to achieve casualty reductions towards our 2020 targets.

“This progress is to be welcomed but we want to go even further, building on the strong partnership approach which identified three key priority focus areas for activity through to 2020 – speed, age and vulnerable road users.

“Partners are progressing work to address outcomes in these areas that will help deliver us achieve our 2020 casualty reduction targets. In particular, with certain road users such as cyclists, we welcome the reduction in fatalities from 2014 but continued effort is needed to tackle serious injuries.”

The total number of accidents has fallen by 49 per cent over the past 20 years, despite traffic increasing by 24 per cent in the same period.