Increase in Scotland’s road deaths ‘deeply troubling’, says Brake

505 Transport Scotland has released provisional headline figures for road casualties reported to the police in Scotland in 2016, showing 191 people were killed in reported accidents in 2016 - 23 more than in 2015.

Commenting on the news, Jason Wakeford, spokesman for national road safety charity 4235 Brake, said the figures are deeply troubling. He said it is shocking to see more fatalities on Scotland's roads last year, and more children, cyclists and motorcyclists needlessly losing their lives.

"Today's statistics show that, while progress is being made toward some of the 2020 Scottish Road Safety Framework targets, there is far more work to be done,” he said. "We must strive for a vision of zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads. We urge the 2112 Scottish Government to implement a default 20mph limit in built up areas, accompanied by additional speed enforcement on roads by the police.

Brake is also calling on the 1690 European Commission to urgently update new vehicle safety standards and the UK Government to set up a Road Collision Investigation Branch. “Understanding and collating the details of individual road crashes and the circumstances that led to them is critical, to enable lessons to be learned and help prevent future deaths across the country," said Wakeford.