The number of people killed or seriously injured on Fife’s roads increased last year, despite a record low number of crashes.
Fifteen people, including six pedestrians, died in road accidents in the region in 2019, five more than in 2018.
The number seriously hurt rose from 97 to 128.
All of the fatalities were adults, with no children killed in crashes in Fife at all last year – although 47 youngsters were injured, 13 of them seriously.
Failure to look properly or to judge the other person’s path or speed contributed to 14 of the 15 fatalities.
Other factors given by police were poor turns or manoeuvres, loss of control and careless or reckless driving.
In all, there were 306 crashes where people were killed or injured, down from 327 in 2018 and the lowest number ever recorded in Fife.
Fife Council said that while the real cost was the untold trauma and grief caused to the families involved, the cost to the economy had been an eye-watering £62.7 million.
The figure includes the loss of output due to injury, medical costs, damage to vehicles and property and the cost of police and insurance administration.
Senior roads and transportation manager Derek Crowe said the statistics had been finalised by Police Scotland and would be forwarded to the Scottish Government to be collated with other regional results.
“The 2019 figures are the lowest total numbers of casualties and crashes ever recorded,” he said.
“The number of slight injuries is a record low, however the numbers of fatal and serious casualties have increased compared to 2018.”
The Scottish Government has a target to reduce the number of people killed by 40% this year, which in Fife amounts to 11 people.
Mr Crowe said the target was challenging but added: “Good progress has been made in recent years but continued work and investment will be required by all of the parties involved in road safety in Fife.
“Fife surpassed the Scottish Government reduction target for child fatal casualties and the slight injury rate, but the other categories are currently above the 2020 target levels.”
He said the majority of fatal crashes had occurred on rural roads or roads between towns and those remained a focus for road safety initiatives.
