Scotland smashes road safety targets
The number of people killed or seriously injured on Scottish roads has more than halved in the last ten years.
At the turn of the millennium, the Scottish Government was set the target of reducing such incidents by 40% before 2010.
A total of 208 people were killed in reported road accidents last year, 4% less than in 2009, while 1,960 were injured – a figure that was down by 14% on the year before.
The number of under-16s killed as a result of road accidents since 2000 has also been cut by 73%, despite targets from ten years ago hankering for a 50% decrease.
Kathleen Braidwood, road safety officer at Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in Scotland, said the ultimate goal would be zero deaths on Scotland’s roads.
“It is a significant achievement for Scotland to have reduced road casualties further than the targets set in 2000,” she commented.
“However, it is always difficult to truly celebrate success like this when so many families are still enduring the devastation of loved ones being killed or seriously injured on our roads.
“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. If these targets are to be met – and hopefully exceeded – it is crucial that everyone plays a part.
Kathleen suggested ways all road users could contribute: “Drivers and motorcyclists could investigate options for refresher training to iron out bad habits and employers could facilitate this.
“Employers could also take a proactive approach by organising specific road safety campaigns within their organisations and running awareness-raising workshops for their staff.
“Road safety is everyone’s responsibility and there are many things we can all do to help make our roads safer.”
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