Trends in pedestrian and cyclist road casualties in Scotland
18 August 2015
Our new report provides a detailed analysis of current trends in cyclist and pedestrian road casualties in Scotland, using a range of data from different sources.It also explores the context behind these casualty trends: levels of walking and cycling in Scotland; the policy context around active travel; and the sorts of approaches that are required to reduce traffic casualties and encourage greater levels of walking and cycling.
The study used road traffic injury data collected through police reports and from hospital admission data to gain a better understanding of trends in pedestrian and cyclist road casualties in Scotland.
Child pedestrians are two-and-a-half times more likely than adults to be injured in road traffic accidents, and although accident rates are falling, more child and adult pedestrians are injured in road traffic accidents in deprived areas compared with more affluent areas.
Over the last decade, in deprived areas, three times as many child pedestrians were injured than in less deprived areas. Similarly, in deprived areas there were 2.5 times as many adult pedestrians injured than in less deprived areas.
For cyclists, there has been a rise in adult cyclist casualties in the last decade and casualty rates are consistently higher in the more affluent neighbourhoods, which is likely to relate to a greater number of cyclists commuting from these areas.
Click on our infographics below to view the key findings at a glance.
