Safety in numbers: an investigation into reductions in road traffic collisions across North East Scotland, 2011-2020.

Hood, Caroline

Abstract

During the ten-year period 2011-2020, recorded road collisions and casualties in North East Scotland saw significant reductions. In the six vulnerable road user categories - i.e. children; motorcyclists; young drivers; older drivers; pedal cyclists; and pedestrians - the recorded decreases ranged from 59% to 84%. While the statistical performance for the final year of the review period, 2020, was doubtless affected by COVID-19 related issues, the years leading to 2020 had already seen sustained periods of significant year-on-year reductions. The Safe System approach is leading Scotland forward in road safety and road casualty reduction during the decades ahead; however, to pursue further successes there is a strong argument that we need to fully understand how these reductions were achieved. In a North East Scotland context, there is no confirmed explanation as to why the reductions have been achieved. Clearly fewer collisions are the primary reason for fewer casualties; however, we cannot with any confidence provide a definitive explanation about why the reductions have occurred. In an area of work that is sometimes quite literally life and death related, such uncertainty is unacceptable. Many of the reductions seen locally have also been replicated across Scotland and yet, even nationally, there is limited understanding about the confirmed causal influences, with seemingly no other research having been commissioned to review this issue. While the proposed research focuses on North East Scotland, it will likely also have significant national relevance and therefore the ability to inform broader road safety policy in Scotland under the Safe System umbrella.

Citation

HOOD, C. 2024. Safety in numbers: an investigation into reductions in road traffic collisions across North East Scotland, 2011-2020. Aberdeen: Robert Gordon University. Hosted on OpenAIR [online]. Available from: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2255409

• Report Type: Project Report
• Deposit Date: May 7, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 8, 2024
• Publisher: Robert Gordon University
• Keywords: Road safety; Road collisions; Traffic accidents; Scotland
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2255409