The number of people killed and injured on Scotland's roads dropped 10 per cent last year to the lowest level since records began.
There were 11,498 overall casualties on the country's roads in 2013, the lowest level since 1950, according to figures from Transport Scotland.
The number killed fell 3 per cent on the previous year to 172, while serious injuries decreased 16 per cent to 1,672.
There was also a reduction in the number slightly injured, which fell 9 per cent over the year to 9,654.
The report said the reductions were "notable" because the number of vehicles licensed in Scotland was about a sixth higher than in 2003 and traffic on was estimated to have grown by 4 per cent since 2003.
Nine children, five of them pedestrians, died following road accidents last year, while 143 were seriously injured. There were 1,062 child casualties overall.
The number of drink-drive accidents fell 46 per cent, from about 820 in 2002 to roughly 440 in 2012 - the latest year for which figures are available.
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