Recorded deaths as a result of incidents which occur on our roads: EIR release

Information requested

I am writing to you to seek important clarification of the way in which there is recorded deaths as a result of incidents which occur on our roads, and in particular on the A9 between Perth and Inverness. My understanding is that the official statistics which have been often quoted, for the deaths occurring on the A9 following RT Incidents in 2023 were 13.

However, private sources tell me that these statistics may not include those people who were involved in such RTIs but whose time of death occurred following evacuation from the scene, either in the ambulance or other vehicle evacuating the casualty, or helicopter, or indeed at Hospital. In fact, my informants suggest that the actual deaths occurring may have been 24 in 2023. I am therefore writing to you to ask that this be clarified.

Response

Fatality statistics for the A9 are collected by Police Scotland on the same basis as for all roads in Scotland as part of the GB-wide dataset known as Stats19. This follows established, published guidelines and includes fatalities whose time of death occurred up to 30 days after the collision (a Word Health Organisation convention). Therefore, statistics for the A9 include fatalities whose time of death occurs in the vehicle evacuating the casualty or at hospital. Please note however, that there are some, limited types of fatalities involved in collisions that are excluded from the statistics, for example, individuals who were involved in a collision but died from natural causes or were confirmed to have committed suicide. Other casualties in these collisions should be reported.

Official statistics record that between Perth (Inveralmond roundabout) and Inverness (Longman roundabout) there were 13 fatalities from road collisions in 2022 and a further 1 in 2023. For the whole of the A9 there were 18 fatalities in 2022 and in 2023 there were 4.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.