Reported number of casualties

Casualty and collision numbers for 2020 and 2021 were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and associated restrictions on travel.

Figure 2 shows that in 2023, 155 people were killed in road collisions in Scotland: 16 (9%) less than 2022.

Since 1978, there has been a clear, steady, long-term downward trend. More recent years' figures have fluctuated around a less pronounced downward trend. Both 2020 and 2021 had the lowest number of fatalities ever recorded and 2023 was the fourth-lowest with 155 fatalities.

Figure 2: Total number of reported road fatalities, 1950 to 2023, as described in the text above
Figure 2: Total number of reported road fatalities, 1950 to 2023

Figure 3 shows that there were a total of 5,788 casualties (of all severities) reported in 2023: 158 (3%) more than in 2022 and the fourth lowest number since annual records began in 1950.

Between circa 1970 and 1990, the figures fluctuated around a general downward trend, with numbers falling from the short-term peak in 1989 & 1990 (of over 27,000). Since 1998, there has been a consistent reduction, with numbers falling below 12,000 in 2013, which was half the level of the early 1990s.

Figure 3: Number of reported road casualties broken down by severity, 1950 to 2023, as described in the text above
Figure 3: Number of reported road casualties broken down by severity, 1950 to 2023

Note for Figure 3: Due to changes in the way casualty severity is recorded, serious and slight figures prior to 2004 are not directly comparable with later years.

In 2023, 1,930 people were seriously injured in road collisions. As outlined above, this figure cannot be directly compared to the reported figures prior to 2004. Figure 4 uses adjusted figures to show how many serious casualties there would have been in previous years if they had been recorded using an injury-based reporting system. The number of people seriously injured in 2023 increased by 9% on 2022. Figure 3 shows that the longer-term trend for fatal and serious casualties has generally been downward since the early 1980s.

There were 3,703 people reported as slightly injured in 2023. Once again, this figure cannot be directly compared to the reported figures for previous years prior to 2004. The number of people slightly injured in road collisions in 2023 increased by 1% on 2022. Figure 3 shows that the number of slight casualties has shown a clear downward trend since the mid-1990s.

Figure 4: Number of serious road casualties, adjusted and unadjusted 2004 to 2023, as described in the text above
Figure 4: Number of serious road casualties, adjusted and unadjusted 2004 to 2023