Ministerial statement following the publication of latest road safety statistics for 2022

Minister for Transport Kevin Stewart said:

“Any increase in road deaths and injuries is deeply concerning. Behind every number we see in the statistics today is a loved one who is now tragically no longer with us or a life changed forever. To see lives cut short in this way is deeply unfair and I refuse to accept that road casualties are in some way inevitable – they are avoidable and can be stopped. One death on our roads is simply one too many.

“Separate to the enforcement work undertaken by Police Scotland and the local action and investment taken by our local authorities, the Scottish Government’s 2023-24 budget includes over £31 million for road safety. This has been allocated to areas such as our Trunk Road Casualty Reduction Programme, the Road Safety Improvement Fund, our Safety Camera Programme and our work to expand 20 mph areas in communities across Scotland.

“We’re also investing record amounts in active travel this year to make walking, wheeling and cycling easier and safer across the country, coupled with investment in public transport to support a shift away from private car use and towards sustainable transport. Realising our ambition of reducing car kilometres by 20% by 2030 will also make our roads safer while at the same time protecting our environment.

“Road safety remains an absolute priority for this government and I’m determined that we continue to make investments which support our Road Safety Framework to 2030, which sets out our vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and an ambitious long term goal where no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050.”

BACKGROUND

Information on the latest publication can be found on the Transport Scotland website: Key Reported Road Casualties Scotland 2022 | Transport Scotland

For more information on Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 and the safe system approach visit the Transport Scotland website: Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 | Transport Scotland

For more information on the work of Road Safety Scotland visit: www.roadsafety.scot