Speed-reducing campaigns have seen road deaths fall

On the country's roads last year, 307 people were killed, compared with 331 in 2003 - a 7% reduction.

Child deaths and serious injuries were also 55% lower than the annual averages for 1994 to 1998.

Transport Minister Nicol Stephen welcomed the improved statistics, but added that there was still a lot to be done to make the roads safer.

He said: "We now need to continue our efforts to improve road safety through effective education for children and drivers, safety improvements on our roads and tougher enforcement.

"I am determined that we reduce the number of deaths on our roads still further to significantly less than 300 deaths each year."

Figures in the Scottish Executive's Key 2004 Road Accident Statistics show that the number of serious injuries is now at the lowest level since records began more than 50 years ago.

Safer streets

Mr Stephen said that the 2004 figures showed that the executive had reached its 2010 target of halving the number of children killed and seriously injured on Scotland's roads.

The minister credited the executive-funded Scottish Road Safety Campaign for the decrease in fatalities and injuries.

Additional funding has been pumped into cycling, walking and safer streets projects.

There has also been an increase in the number of 20mph speed limits outside schools.

Mr Stephen said: "All of this, alongside new investment in road improvements at accident blackspots, will help us prevent even more needless deaths and injury on Scotland's roads."

In 2000, the executive made a commitment to reducing road accidents and produced key targets to be reached by 2010.

They include:

• A 40% reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents

• A 50% reduction in the number of children killed or seriously injured

• A 10% reduction in minor causalities, expressed as the number of people slightly injured per 100 million vehicle kilometres.