Road crashes in Glasgow almost halved last year with fewer traffic on the roads during the lockdown for most of the year.

In 2020 there were 572 crashes on the city’s roads, down significantly from 984 the year before, a fall of 42%

The drop in crashes however did not lead to the same fall in the number of serious injuries in accidents and the number of fatal road incidents actually increased.

Across the city there were 177 accidents were injuries were classed as serious, down from 190 the year before.

While the number of fatal accidents increased slightly from 11 in 2019 to 13 last year.

Across Scotland there was also a drop in casualties, attributed to fewer vehicles on the road.

There was however, an increase in casualties involving a cyclists as more people were using bikes for travel.

Across the country there were 132 fatal crashed and 142 fatalities. down from 161 fatal crashes in 2019.

The number of serious incidents on the roads also dropped, by 20%, from 1715 in 2019 to 1364 last year.

The total number of road traffic accidents dropped by 32% from 5686 to 3836.

The Department for Transport estimate that motor traffic volume dropped by 23% in Scotland in 2020 compared with 2019.

Compared to 2019, the total reported casualties decreased across all modes of transport except pedal cyclists which increased by 2%.

Bus and Coach casualties saw the largest decrease in the number of casualties down by 58%.

The DfT estimate that cycling on the road network increased by 46% across Great Britain, the Scottish estimate was even higher with a 61% increase

Bus passenger numbers are estimated to have dropped by 53% in 2020.

Graeme Dey, Scottish Government, Transport Minister, said: “Whilst it is no surprise that with fewer car trips over the lockdown period, we’re seeing fewer road casualties – prior to the pandemic road casualties in Scotland had been showing a clear, ongoing reduction. Improving road safety further remains a priority for the Scottish Government.

“Our road safety partners and I know that one death on Scotland’s roads is one too many.

“The fact we’ve met all our casualty reductions targets, putting us among the best performing European countries, means very little to those who have sadly lost friends and love ones in tragic circumstances.”

He said the Scottish Government’s target is to have no-one seriously injured or killed on Scotland’s roads by 2050.