FOI/202500487513 · FOI · not held
Transport Scotland - Road traffic accidents involving non-UK resident drivers in Scotland: FOI release
Information requested
1. The number of road traffic accidents in Scotland involving foreign or non-UK resident drivers (e.g., overseas licence holders, tourist drivers, or vehicles registered outside the UK).
2. If available, please provide:
Annual figures for the most recent five years. Breakdown by accident severity (fatal, serious, slight). Breakdown by road type (motorway, trunk road, urban, rural). Breakdown by geographical area/local authority.
3. If nationality or residence status is not recorded directly, please provide any available proxy data, such as vehicle country of registration or any other field that may indicate foreign drivers.
Please provide the data in spreadsheet (Excel/CSV) or other machine-readable format if possible. I would also be grateful if you could confirm whether Transport Scotland / Police Scotland routinely records driver nationality or vehicle registration country in road accident data.'
Response
In the collision records held by Transport Scotland, we are unable to identify whether the vehicles involved in collisions are being driven by foreign drivers. However, we can identify left-hand drive vehicles and I attach an Excel file with the statistics you requested based on this.
The records we hold relate to collisions where someone is injured or killed, and which become known to Police Scotland. Therefore, we do not hold records relating to damage-only collisions. Please note that any figures for 2024 are provisional as they are based on monthly returns received thus far from Police Scotland, with the most recent returns being received on 10th September 2025. This may be an incomplete picture of casualties up to that date due to a slight lag between collisions occurring and records being processed and shared by Police Scotland. These figures are also subject to change due to subsequent corrections and late records.
The records held by Transport Scotland do not include driver nationality or vehicle registration country. However, in-depth research of fatal collisions conducted by Police Scotland, which incorporated information not held by Transport Scotland, may be of interest.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.