Road accident deaths remain at record lows

The number of people killed on Scotland's roads has remained at record lows, the latest figures confirm.

Final stats for 2021 showed 140 people were killed in reported road accidents, one fewer than the previous year.

The report showed a long-term downward trend with the number of people killed on Scotland's roads decreasing by 57% since 2000.

However, overall casualties did rise slightly in 2021 to 5,103, from a record low in 2020 of 5,056.

The Transport Scotland report notes that the effect of the Covid pandemic lockdown on traffic numbers will have had an impact on the figures.

It also said that car accident rates varied markedly by age and sex.

The highest rate was for men aged between 17 and 25, with a rate of 1.9 accident per 1,000 of the population, one and half times more than the rate for women of the same age.

The overall accident rate in 2021 was one accident per 1,000 people.

Estimates also suggest that the number of drink-drive accidents have fallen by 64% between 2010 and 2020 - from 530 accidents to 190.