Scottish road death figures disappoint transport minister

Scottish transport minister Nicol Stephen said he was ‘very disappointed’ at an increase in deaths on Scotland's roads announced last week.

In Tayside, road deaths rose by over a third last year - an increase more than three times that seen across the rest of Scotland. 37 people died on Tayside roads, an increase of 37 per cent. Road deaths across Scotland as a whole were up from 304 to 332 (around nine per cent) over the same period.

However, the number of people injured in road accidents in Tayside fell significantly - to 1399 - a drop of almost 200 from the 1583 killed or hurt the previous year. The figure represents an 11 per cent fall, compared with a national reduction of seven per cent.

Mr Stephen said the rise would make the Scottish Executive more determined to meet its target of cutting deaths and serious injuries. "These figures reinforce our determination to improve road safety through effective education for children and drivers, safety improvements on our roads and tougher enforcement," he said. "It is disappointing that the number of fatalities has increased and shows we must all continue our efforts to improve road safety.

"Over the long term, road accident casualties are falling but clearly we must all continue our efforts to remain on target to reduce the number of people seriously injured or killed on Scotland's roads.

"Most deaths occur on faster, out of town roads and I have commissioned further work to look at how we can take action on this."

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