Chamber and committees

The Scottish BroadcastingCommission will conduct an examination into the current state of the broadcastingindustries in Scotland and will make recommendations for methodsby which greater success might be achieved. In these respects, the commission willbe concerned with economic development and the cultural and democratic aspects ofbroadcasting in Scotland. The commission may make recommendations for action bythe Scottish ministers or by other persons. The commission may also identify mattersthat it believes should be considered further by the Scottish Parliament.

Data about injuryroad accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Governmentusing the Stats 19 statistical report form, the specification for which was expandedwith effect from the start of 2005 to collect information about the factors whichmay have contributed to the occurrence of an accident. It must be emphasised thatthe contributory factors shownin the Stats 19 returns reflectthe reporting officer’s opinion at the time of making the report, and are notnecessarily the result of extensive investigation: subsequent enquiries could leadto a change in the opinion of the reporting officer. The factors are largely subjective,and depend upon the skill and experience of the reporting officer in reconstructingthe events which led directly to the accident, based upon the information availableat the time of making the report. There may be accidents for which the reportingofficer cannot identify any contributory factors.

Information aboutcontributory factors is given on pages 53 to 74 of Road Accidents Scotland 2005,published by the Scottish Executive in November 2006, which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41118). Table Five (on pages71-72) shows the numbers of deaths in accidents for which each contributory factorwas recorded. The categories in that Table include ones which relate to all thetopics for which information was requested apart from not wearing seatbelts:

for (b) - see “fatigue”

for (c) - see “exceedingspeed limit” and, perhaps, “travelling too fast for the conditions”

for (d) - see “disobeyedautomatic traffic signal” and, perhaps, “disobeyed Give Way or Stop sign or makings”

for (e) - see “[driver/rider]impaired by alcohol” and “[pedestrian] impaired by alcohol”

for (f) - see “[driver/rider]impaired by drugs (illicit/medicinal)” and “[pedestrian]”.

The Stats 19 returnsdo not collect any information about whether or not seat belts were worn.

No major transportproject has been considered for approval or funding since September 2003 withoutthe appropriate appraisal being in place.

Information is notavailable in the format requested.

The Scottish Governmenthas committed £410,000 for road safety media in 2007-08. A further £488,329 hasbeen allocated for safety camera related publicity on speeding and red light running.

The government providesfunding to Road Safety Scotland for the development of road safety education resourcesand publicity messages. Road Safety Scotland has allocated £375,000 for road safetypublicity in the current financial year. Road Safety Scotland’s budget for 2007-08,showing a breakdown of expenditure, can be accessed at www.srsc.org.uk/about/ar_bp_07-08.asp.

The Scottish Governmentprovides funding to Road Safety Scotland for the development of road safety educationresources and publicity messages. Details of Road Safety Scotland’s budget for 2007-08,showing a breakdown of expenditure, can be accessed at www.srsc.org.uk/about/ar_bp_07-08.asp.

Future resources forRoad Safety Scotland will be dependent on the outcome of the current Strategic SpendingReview.

Data about injuryroad accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Governmentusing the Stats 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidentsin which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. Thereturns do not cover damage-only accidents or accidents of which the police areunaware because they were not reported by the public.

The specificationof the Stats 19 returns includes a code which the police can use to identify asnon-UK residents any drivers or riders, of vehicles involved in reported accidents,whose homes are outwith the UK. However, this information is not availablein all cases - for example, the police will have no knowledge of the areas of residenceof hit and run drivers. The true number of foreign motorists involved in accidentswill therefore be higher than would appear from the Stats 19 data, and the truenumber of accidents involving foreign motorists will therefore be higher than thefigures given in the following table.

Reported InjuryRoad Accidents which Involved Motor Vehicle Drivers or Riders who were Coded inthe Stats 19 Returns as being Non-UK Residents

Year	Accidents
2002	104
2003	103
2004	105
2005	116
2006	97

 

On average, therefore,about 105 accidents per year involved a foreign motorist. Over the same period,there were on average 13,713 reported injury road accidents per year (as shown intable 8 of Key 2006 Road Accident Statistics, published in June 2007 by the Scottish Executive, copies of which are available in the Scottish ParliamentInformation Centre (Bib number 42962)). The proportion of reported injury road accidentswhich involved a foreign motorist is therefore about 0.008 (i.e. 0.8%).

The information requestedcan be obtained from the figures which appear in table 23 of Road Accidents Scotland2005 (published by the Scottish Executive in November 2006, this gives figuresfor 1995 to 2005, inclusive) and table 6 of Key 2006 Road Accident Statistics(published by the Scottish Executive in June 2007, this gives figures for 2004 to 2006, inclusive). Copies of both publicationsare available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. numbers 41118and 42962, respectively).

In such tables, andfor the purpose of other road accident statistics which are published by the ScottishGovernment, “built-up roads” (i.e. roads with speed limits of up to 40mph) representurban roads, and “non built-up roads” (i.e. roads with speed limits of over 40mph)represent rural roads.

 

There are currently18 officials (expressed as full time equivalents) engaged in a wide range of roadsafety activities.

For the years up to2005, the information requested can be obtained from the figures which appear inthe “Scotland” totals in table 36 ofRoad Accidents Scotland 2005, published by the Scottish Executive in November2006, which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number41118). The corresponding figures for 2006 are given in the following table.

People Killed inRoad Accidents in Scotland in 2006

Type of Road	Number of Deaths
Trunk roads	102
Local authority roads	211
All roads	313

 

The Scottish Governmenthas no functions in relation to vehicle safety standards.