By Professor John Robertson OBA
From Road traffic accident statistics: FOI release, published today, we see a 24% fall in road fatalities, from 203 in 2014 to 155 in 2023 and, for serious injuries, a 32% fall from 2 901 in 2014 to 1 944 in 2023.
Most of these FoIs are requested by the likes of Alex Cole-Hamilton of the Lib Dumbs, so it will be interesting to see if and how they try to spin this.
Source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202400443200/
The longer-term trend:
From Transport Scotland May 30th 2024 , but not making it to any front pages or to BBC Scotland:
One hundred and fifty-five people were killed in reported road collisions in Scotland in 2023, 16 fewer than in 2022.
Compared to 2022, there was a fall in reported casualties of 16% for pedal cyclists.
https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/decrease-in-number-of-people-killed-on-scotland-s-roads-1/
Compared to what?
Compared to the rest of Britain, however, Scotland is the safest area overall, with 1.32 road accidents per 1,000 of the population, compared with 1.51 in Wales and 2.05 in England.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/homenews/23424294.argyll-bute-scotlands-deadliest-roads/
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Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
These data are welcome, but, it would be useful to look at the data for rural areas compared to urban areas, based on standardized mileage driven and population data. Serious accidents and fatalities tend to be higher per capita per miles driven than in urban areas.
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Likely due to higher average speeds on rural roads compared to urban roads?
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Scotland is very much smaller than its neighbouring country; our people rarely hear genuine news of our country’s circumstances… Nowadays, we’re gradually becoming aware of the freshly emerging: https: /www.thescotlandchannel.tv/ The Scotland Channel. ~ Whatever emerges elsewhere needs to be politically suitable for populations… Moreover, a future Union needs to be internationally acceptable.
In other words, London-based news broadcasting such as the ‘BBC’ will be free to broadcast to its main audience, England. The so-called ‘UK’ is going to become a poor memory for Scotland… Simultaneously, both England and Scotland will again be independent countries, each experiencing absolutely different futures, for better or worse. Peacefully negotiating futures is our realistic course of action.
Thanks for your time,
Ewen A Morrison
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Very welcome reduction in overall accidents. Funny that it’s not in the Herald 🙂
I would love to see the accident statistics for the A9 and hopefully they would also show a marked reduction, plus the effect of the average speed camera’s on that road. That just might shut the Herald’s resident moaning minnies up, for a while at least, about the A9.
Always cracks me up when “Scottish” Labour when in power at Holyrood returned £1.5 billion to the UK treasury when they could not find anything to spend it on – like the A9 perhaps?
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Here is a link to a 2018 report by Transport Scotland from 2018
https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/comprehensive-a9-performance-data-published/
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A more recent report
https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202400413802/
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Cheers Legerwood, I will have a look at that report.
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recently noticed that all Scottish speed cameras are switched off, apparently due to good behaviour on Scottish roads.
Great news that accidents and fatalities are down too.
SNP, get onto this! I want to see this in the papers (not that I buy them) and on the BBC (not that I watch). Don’t worry, I’ll catch up with Scotland good news on other sites.
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If you are covering news that you won’t hear then perhaps you also need to include the lack of news on the progress being made with the supposed thousands of jobs in Scotland that were promised by Labour in their General election campaign , all apparently to be generated from GB Energy Ltd.
In fact the media within Scotland seem to be somewhat indifferent and even disinterested in pursuing what is happening, jobs wise in Scotland, via GB Energy Ltd now and in the future.
So far the only jobs for Scotland that have been mentioned by the GB Energy chairman was when in November 2024 the chairman, who is based in Manchester , stated that a potential 200-300 jobs “should be generated within GB energy Headquarters” which is based in Aberdeen.
Michael Shanks , MP and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy , appeared today remotely, as opposed to appearing in person, before the Scottish parliament and he apparently failed to clarify how many actual jobs in Scotland would be generated at GB Energy HQ, he was also vague upon energy bills which Labour promised would be decreased if they gained power but energy bills have actually risen since Labour came to power.
Yet with GB Energy HQ jobs Michael Shanks had previously stated last year in October 2024 that 1000 jobs would be created at GB Energy HQ which contradicted the amount quoted by the chairman one month later.
Shanks, when questioned today in the Scottish parliament about the exact number of jobs that would be created in GB Energy HQ’s , actually suggested that the SNP MSP who was questioning him was misquoting the GB Energy chairman on the figures that he had provided in November 2024.
However the figure of 200-300 jobs was what the MSM , including the BBC, had quoted the GB Energy chairman as saying would be the amount of potential jobs in the new GB Energy HQ.
This figure quoted by the MSM of 200-300 jobs was when the Chairman of GB Energy Ltd appeared before a House of Commons select committee in November 2024.
He, the Chairman of GB Energy Ltd, was appearing before the Commons’ energy security and net zero select committee , where seven of the members of this committee are Labour MP’s , who Michael Shanks must surely liaise with in his position as Parliamentary Under Secretary for State for Energy.
One source stated that at the end of the questioning of Mr Shanks at the Scottish parliament today that “it seems like there are more questions than answers about GB Energy and its future in Aberdeen”.
I think it does not bode well for Scotland that Michael Shanks the Parliamentary under secretary of state for Energy was being so vague in his answers, was seemingly so uninformed , as in oblivious to the amount of potential jobs that would be generated in Scotland via GB Energy Ltd, he was also unsure and somewhat reticent in stating when exactly energy bills would be lowered and also he was unaware that the amount quoted of 200-300 jobs at GB Energy HQ was not in fact a misquote by the SNP MSP who was questioning him today , but it was actually the amount quoted by the Chairman of GB Energy Ltd at a HOC select committee in November 2024.
So either he, Shanks, is hiding something , is lying for Labour or his position is one that prevents him having access to sensitive information that is connected to GB Energy.
Of course you could be right in thinking that GB Energy is nothing more than a sham and that even Labour know not whether it will reduce energy bills or generate a significant number of jobs in Scotland to justify the huge fanfare that they Labour and the media gave it as a new initiative.
I know what I think it really is and what it really means for Scotland and it most certainly is not something that will ever see Scotland gaining more benefits over England.
I think Shanks lack of answers to the Scottish parliament today has proven just how inept he is as a politician, as is his party too and also inept is GB Energy Ltd as a concept and as a supposed initiative that in reality would never ever in any way benefit Scotland now or in the future .
Surely we in Scotland have the resources that would really benefit Scotland if we were independent which in turn would then generate jobs for Scotland now and in the future and also ensure lower energy bills for us as well.
Liz S
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