The cost of the most serious traffic accidents in Dundee has topped £10 million in a year, a council report has revealed.
Official figures show that only one person was killed on city streets in 2012 and another 43 were seriously injured.
But transport officers reckon the financial impact of these accidents is huge, not only for the victims and their families but for wider society.
In a report to councillors they say: “Although significant casualty reduction has been achieved, 44 people killed or seriously injured in Dundee during 2012 is still far to high a figure.
“The cost to society in economic terms through lost output, medical costs, pain, suffering, emergency service costs and damage to property for these 44 injuries is of the order of £10.7 million.
“In addition, it must be remembered that there is real human grief and suffering experienced, not only by those injured but also by friends and families.”
The casualty figures will be presented to the city development committee next week. They do not include incidents on trunk roads as these are not the council’s responsibility.
The Scottish Government has set casualty reduction targets for local authorities and the officers’ report shows a long-term downward trend in the number of people being killed or seriously injured in accidents.
Serious injuries are down by 24% compared to the 2004 to 2008 average. Fatalities in recent years have usually been pedestrians and the council is planning to take this into account when developing road safety initiatives.
City development convener Will Dawson said: “Our roads are very much safer than they have been in the past but we must not drop our guard.
“So we are using all of the tools at our disposal including engineering, enforcement, education and encouragement to try to reduce these figures further and continue to meet stringent Scottish Government targets.
“Our commitment to improving road safety for residents and visitors to the city remains strong.”
Efforts to cut casualty numbers have included encouraging the use of child car seats and helmets for cyclists, enforcement action by the police and the creation of 20mph zones around schools.
The council can also use a variety of engineering measures to manage traffic and reduce the risk of accidents.
A £150,000 budget has been allocated for road safety works and officers have identified locations across the city that will be added to the programme, although it may not be possible to carry out all the projects within the current financial year.
The sites include the A92 at Baldovie Road, Blackness Avenue at Abbotsford Place, Claverhouse Road at Mains Loan, Coupar Angus Road flyover, Hill Street at Bruce Street, Kings Cross Road at Kingsway, Longtown Road near Longtown Street, Macalpine Road at Kingsway, Old Liff Road at Kingsway and Park Avenue near Morgan Street.
Also on the list are Pitkerro Road at Pitairlie Road, Princes Street near Ferguson Street, Riverside Drive at Riverside Approach, Strathmore Avenue, Brantwood Avenue, Johnston Avenue, South Road at Buttars Loan and Victoria Road near Hilltown.
Site visits and accident analysis will be used to determine the most appropriate work to be carried out at each spot.