Fall in number of cyclists killed or seriously injured on Scotland's roads

The number of cyclists killed on Scotland’s roads fell by almost half last year, according to new official figures released by the Scottish Government. 

According to the Key 2009 Reported Road Casualty Statistics, which has just been published by the Scottish Government, five cyclists were killed in Scotland last year, down from nine in 2008 but an increase of one on the four recorded a year earlier.

Just under one in five cyclist casualties, 156 in total, were designated as killed or seriously injured during 2009, a 4% drop on the previous year.

The figures do show, however, that there has been a rise in the total number of accidents involving cyclists, including those not resulting in death or serious injury, which rose by 10% last year to stand at 803.

Nevertheless, the data represent a vast improvement from the picture in the late 199os. Between 1994 and 1998, an annual average of 1,283 cyclists were injured in Scotland, with 249 of those classed as killed or seriously injured, 11 of them losing their lives.

As elsewhere in the UK, people in Scotland are being encouraged to become more active through undertaking forms of exercise such as cycling, so the fact that the number of people killed or seriously injured while cycling falling at a time when more people are taking to their bikes is welcome news.