Progress in cutting road casualty rates has varied dramatically across the UK, according to an analysis of accident figures.
The reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured (KSIs) is much higher in London than the national average and much lower in Wales.
On the basis of KSIs, roads in Scotland and Northern Ireland are far safer than those in England. The reduction rates were 33 per cent north of the Border and 35 per cent in Northern Ireland.
The analysis came in a report published by the RAC Foundation and the Parliamentary Advisory Committee for Transport Safety.
The report showed the reduction between 2010 and 2013 in the number of KSIs compared with the average KSI figure for the period 2005 to 2009.
The report said the figures hid a recent flattening out of the overall downward trend with the most dramatic casualty reduction in this period being seen in 2010.
While car occupant safety has improved markedly, the situation among vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists) has been less good, the report said.
Although deaths in this group have declined they are now a larger proportion of all road deaths, rising from 46 per cent in 2005-09 to 49 per cent in 2013. The absolute number of cyclists seriously injured has risen.
RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "The UK risks breaking apart in terms of road safety policy with different administrations having varying levels of power, funding and political will to deal with death and injury on the highways.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article