By Andrew Argo

SCOTLAND’S ROADS are becoming safer with fewer people killed and injured despite a growth in traffic.

The figures were welcomed by Scottish transport minister Tavish Scott, but he said there must be no complacency in continuing to promote safe driving through effective education, safety improvements and tougher enforcement.

The report, Road Accidents in Scotland 2004, was published yesterday showing a 2% fall in the total number of casualties compared with 2003, and at 18,405 the lowest number since 1953.

There were 306 people killed, an 8% decrease from the previous year and the second lowest figure for more than 50 years. There was a 0.3% fall in the number of injury accidents, at 13,855 the lowest number since 1966.

The number of people seriously injured was down 7%, and at 2742 was the lowest number since records began in 1950.

The number of slight casualties was down 1% and fatal accidents were down by 6%, although the last-named category relates to collisions in which people died and not the number of people who died in them.

The figures include 383 children who were killed or seriously injured. Twelve children died, five fewer than in 2003.

This shows that the Scottish Executive has reached its target of halving the number of children killed or seriously injured on the roads by 2010.

The fall in the number of casualties is against a background of busier roads, with the number of vehicles growing from 1.9 million to 2.45 million in the 10 years to 2004.

Mr Scott stated, “This devolved government is committed to making Scotland’s roads safer for all who use them, and I welcome the fact that these figures show a reduction in the number of people killed and injured on our roads.

“However, we must not be complacent. We must continue to promote safe driving through effective education, safety improvements on our roads and tougher enforcement.

“The Scottish Safety Camera Programme’s hard-hitting road safety campaign, new investments in road improvements at accident blackspots and our substantial funding to local authorities to introduce 20-mph zones and safer routes to schools are all part of that three-pronged approach.”

The number of fatal accidents in Tayside has fallen from an average of 32 a year from 1994-98 to 29 a year from 2000-04. Over the same period the average number of serious accidents has fallen from 385 to 269, of slight accidents from 888 to 841.

In Fife, the average number of fatal accidents increased from 18 to 19, the average number of serious accidents fell from 191 to 172 and slight accidents fell from 557 to 555.