Road deaths fall after drink-drive limit is tightened

THE number of people killed in road accidents fell by 17 per cent in the year after Scotland’s drink-drive limit was lowered.

There were 168 people killed on the country’s roads in 2015, a reduction from 203 the previous year.

The total number of people injured or killed also fell between 2014 and 2015. Overall numbers dropped from 11,307 to 10,968 – the fewest casualties since records began.

In December 2014, Scotland’s drinkdrive limit was lowered from 80 milligrams (mg) of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg.

The breath alcohol equivalent was reduced to 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

The statistics show falling casualty numbers in many key areas. As well as the decrease in deaths between 2014 and 2015, the number of people seriously injured fell by 6 per cent to 1,596. Ten per cent fewer motorcyclists were killed last year, with deaths falling from 30 to 27.

Children appeared to be much safer on the roads than in 2014. The number of children hurt in 2015 dropped by 6 per cent, with 972 children reported as casualties in accidents. Four children were killed – three fewer than 2014 – and 139 were seriously injured, against 172 the previous year.

Transport Minister Humza Yousaf welcomed the statistics, saying: ‘These figures confirm the downward trend in road casualties. Milestone reductions are being met and we are on track to achieve casualty reductions towards our 2020 targets.

‘This progress is to be welcomed but we want to go even further, building on the partnership approach which identified three key focus areas for activity through to 2020 – speed, age and vulnerable road users.’

Five pedal cyclists were killed in 2015, in comparison with eight the year before.

And there were 15 fewer pedestrian fatalities than in 2014, with 59 killed in 2014 falling to 44 last year.

However, not all of the statistics showed a reduction. More cyclists were seriously injured, with numbers rising from 159 to 164. Bus casualties also rose, with an increase from 28 to 49 people injured.

The figures are an update of provisional statistics published in June.

Lucy Amos, a spokesman for road safety charity Brake, said: ‘These are promising steps towards Scotland meeting its road safety targets for 2020, however those involved cannot afford to grow complacent.

‘The increase in cyclists seriously injured over the past year shows that more work needs to be done to ensure this downward trend continues.’

Scotland’s new drink-drive limit is on a par with other European countries, which usually set the measurement at 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. In England and Wales the alcohol limit for drivers remains 80mg per 100ml of blood, 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath or 107mg per 100ml of urine.

Alcohol makes the brain take longer to receive messages from the eye, makes processing information more difficult and delays the body’s instructions to the muscles, resulting in slower reaction times.

Drink drivers are also likely to experience blurred and double vision and are more likely to take potentially dangerous risks.

‘We want to go even further’