Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2023-24

Road traffic offences

Road traffic offences accounted for 65% of all offences recorded in Scotland in 2023-24. Between 2022-23 and 2023-24, the number of Road traffic offences recorded by the police increased by 3% from 109,320 to 112,417. Over the longer term, there was a decrease of 43% since 2014-15.

The national rate of recorded Road traffic offences increased from 201 per 10,000 population in 2022-23 to 206 per 10,000 population in 2023-24.

The Road traffic offences group includes the following categories:

• Dangerous & careless driving
• Driving under the influence
• Speeding
• Unlawful use of motor vehicle
• Vehicle defect offences
• Seat belt offences
• Mobile phone offences
• Other road traffic offences

In 2023-24, of all Road traffic offences:

• Unlawful use of motor vehicle accounted for a third (33%)
• Other road traffic offences accounted for almost a quarter (23%)
• Speeding accounted for 13%
• Dangerous & careless driving accounted for 12%
• Driving under the influence accounted for 7%
• Vehicle defect offences accounted for 6%
• Mobile phone offences accounted for 3%
• Seat belt offences accounted for 2%

The following section discusses the three largest categories (Unlawful use of motor vehicle, Other road traffic offences and Speeding) in more detail.

For further information on the other Road traffic offences categories please refer to the 'Supporting documents' Excel workbook for this bulletin. This includes data on the number of offences recorded in each category (Table 2) and rates per 10,000 population (Table 4). The workbook includes an ‘Introduction’ sheet, with information on how to navigate the tables, alongside a ‘Notes’ sheet, with relevant details to assist users when reading and interpreting results.

Unlawful use of motor vehicle

The Unlawful use of motor vehicle category includes offences such as Driving while disqualified, Driving without a licence, Driving without insurance, and Driving without a test certificate. Further detail can be found in the User Guide.

Unlawful use of motor vehicle is the largest category in this group, accounting for 33% of all Road traffic offences. This category decreased by 8% between 2014-15 and 2023-24, however there was a 4% increase from 36,243 in 2022-23 to 37,627 in 2023-24.

Other road traffic offences

Other road traffic offences accounted for almost a quarter (23%) of all Road traffic offences. This category includes a range of offences, such as Accident offences (accounting for 62% of the category), Driver's neglect of traffic directions (not pedestrian crossing) (20%), Motor vehicle other offences (7%) and Failing to provide info to identify driver of motor vehicle (4%).

This category increased by 7%, from 24,302 in 2022-23 to 26,022 in 2023-24, however there was an overall decrease of 11% since 2014-15.

Speeding

Speeding accounted for 13% of all Road traffic offences. This category decreased by 15%, from 17,767 in 2022-23 to 15,064 in 2023-24. There was a decrease of 75% since 2014-15.

These figures do not include any offences recorded as a result of the Scottish Safety Camera Programme. These are excluded as no police resources are used in the recording of an offence by this programme and the Accredited Official Statistics on Recorded Crime focus solely on crimes and offences faced by the police and not by other organisations.