Last year deadliest for road collisions since 2016
174 people were killed and over 1,700 seriously injured on Scotland's roads
Last year was the deadliest for road collisions in Scotland since 2016, figures show.
In 2022, there were 5,587 road casualties - of these, 174 people were killed, 1,759 were seriously injured and 3,654 were slightly hurt.
However, deaths among pedal cyclists fell 7%.
Transport minister Kevin Stewart said: "Any increase in road deaths and injuries is deeply concerning.
"Behind every number we see in the statistics today is a loved one who is now tragically no longer with us or a life changed forever.
"To see lives cut short in this way is deeply unfair and I refuse to accept that road casualties are in some way inevitable - they are avoidable and can be stopped.
"One death on our roads is simply one too many."
He said the Government's latest budget invested ÂŁ31 million in road safety, as well as a number of initiatives to promote active travel and alternatives to car journeys.
The minister continued: "Road safety remains an absolute priority for this Government and I'm determined that we continue to make investments which support our Road Safety Framework to 2030, which sets out our vision for Scotland to have the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and an ambitious long-term goal where no-one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050."
Last year, then transport minister Jenny Gilruth said the Government was working to "better understand" the increase in fatal accidents, amid calls to fully dual the A9 and A96 roads.