Finalised road casualty statistics for 2021

Finalised statistics for 2021 confirm that the number of people killed or injured in reported road accidents in Scotland in 2021 remained broadly in line with 2020.

The Reported Road Casualties publication, released today by Transport Scotland statisticians, provides finalised figures for the number of people injured or killed as a result of road accidents. Provisional figures were published in May.

The finalised statistics for 2021 confirm that 140 people were killed in reported road accidents in Scotland in 2021, one fewer than in 2020.

The overall number of casualties rose slightly in 2021 from record lows in 2020 (from 5,056 to 5,103).

Like the figures for 2020, the 2021 casualty numbers will have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated impacts on travel. Most notably, these impacts included the ‘second lockdown’, which ran from 5 January 2021 to April 2021, and incorporated a legal requirement forbidding anyone from leaving their home except for essential purposes.

Scotland’s current Road Safety Framework, contains four national targets for casualty reductions due for delivery in 2030. These targets compare performance to a 2014-2018 baseline.

Target	2030 target reduction	2021 achieved reduction
People killed	50%	19%
People seriously injured	50%	44%
Children (aged < 16) killed	60%	23%
Children (aged < 16) seriously injured	60%	50%

Other findings contained in the report include:

• Car driver accident rates per head of population varied markedly by age and sex. In 2021, the overall rate was 1 accident per thousand population aged 17+. The highest rate was for males in the 17-25 age group, with a rate of 1.9 per thousand population in 2021. This rate is one and a half times those of females of the same age (1.1 per thousand in 2021).

• The latest available estimates suggest that the number of drink-drive accidents fell by 64% between 2010 and 2020: from 530 accidents to 190.

The figures released today were produced by independent statistical staff free from any political interference, in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.