Rise in road deaths ‘deeply troubling’ say safety campaigners

The number of people killed in cars on Scotland’s roads increased by 41 per cent last year in figures described by safety campaigners as “deeply troubling”.

A total of 106 drivers and passengers died – 31 more than in 2015 and the highest for seven years.

The rise cancelled out a reduction in the overall death toll in 2015, which went up by 23 to 191.

The provisional figures from Transport Scotland also showed serious injuries were up, by 6 per cent to 1,693. These included a 19 per cent rise among those in cars.

However, pedestrian deaths fell by 12 to 32 – a record low. The number of cyclists killed increased by three to eight – back to the same number as in 2014.

Motorcycle deaths were up by three to 30, which was also their 2014 level. There were three bus and coach deaths, compared to one in 2015 – the most for 12 years.

Van and lorry deaths were down from 13 to six, while those involving taxis, minibuses and other forms of transport doubled to six.

Child deaths increased from four to 12 and serious injuries were up from 139 to 167,

Total casualties, including slight injuries, fell by 1 per cent from 10,974 to 10,881 to their lowest since records began.

Road safety group Brake said: “The figures are deeply troubling”.

Spokesman Jason Wakeford said: “It’s shocking to see more fatalities on Scotland’s roads last year, and more children, cyclists and motorcyclists needlessly losing their lives.

“We urge the Scottish Government to implement a default 20mph limit in built up areas, accompanied by additional speed enforcement on roads by the police.”

Neil Greig, the Scotlandbased policy and research director of motoring group IAM Roadsmart, said: “These figures continue a worrying trend in road safety in recent years. At best, deaths have flatlinedoraregoingbackupafter decades of improvement.

“The solutions are not simple. Current policies such as 20mph are clearly not delivering the step change in road safety expected.”

Transport minister Humza Yousaf said: “It’s disappointing there has been an increase in the number of fatalities and people seriously injured on our roads in 2016.

“The Scottish Government and our road safety partners will redouble our efforts to reach our ambitious and challengingcasualtyreductiontargets set out in Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020.

“At the same time, we all need to take responsibility for protecting ourselves and other road users when using the road network.”