deaths in Scotland’s roads have increased as the country’s police force stopped focusing on traffic crimes, according to an official report.

The Inspectorate of Police Scotland (HMICS) said the number of people killed or injured on the country’s roads had increased each year for the past four years.

Last year, 155 people died and 1,930 were seriously injured. Deaths This year they are already 26 percent higher than at the same time in 2023.

But the report found there had been a 63 per cent drop in the number of traffic offenses detected and recorded since the country’s eight regional forces were merged into police scotland in April 2013.

It highlighted a sharp drop in the number of officers, which fell from 17,431 in March 2020 to 16,425 in October this year, with the report stating that this had led to a “lack of visible presence” in Scotland’s roads.

This has harmed the force’s ability to “deter dangerous driving behaviour”, the report said, while there is a “strong perception” among officers and staff that “road policing is a low priority”.

‘The lowest of priorities’

Interviewees told HMICS that “speed detection activity by police officers has become rare,” despite it supposedly being one of the five “deadly” causes of collisions they focus on.

Traffic police are unable to pursue vehicles driven by criminals due to “insufficient resource levels”, it said, and road safety was found to be the “lowest priority for local police officers”.

HMICS also heard that calls from the public about drivers suspected of being under the influence of drink or drugs were often not assigned to officers to trace.

Instead, those calls were simply “often broadcast on police radio channels to raise awareness among officers,” with Other incidents are given higher priority..

“If no further calls were received from the public about the vehicle in question, the call would often be closed, without further police attention or action,” he said.

Despite this, police scotland It was discovered to be the only force in the UK still escorting trucks with abnormal loads. National Highways performs this function in England and Wales.

“Totally unacceptable”

Craig Naylor, chief inspector of HMICS, said police scotland should review its commitment to road policing.

He said: “Sadly it has now become very common to read about another death on Scotland’s roads. There seems to be social acceptance around this type of tragedy, but it is absolutely unacceptable and almost all deaths can be prevented.

“The recent increases in traffic accident victims are complex and there is no single factor that has caused this trend. “However, we are concerned that at a time when casualties are increasing, Police Scotland has decreased, rather than increased, its policing activity in this high priority area.”