§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he 291W has made of the number of (a) deaths and (b) serious accidents on the roads which are due to snow or icy road conditions. [72706]
§ Dr. ReidInformation on the cause of road accidents is not available. However, the numbers of reported accidents occurring on icy or snowy road surfaces are contained in the following table:
Number of casualties Year of accident Severity 1995 1996 1997 Casualties on snowy or icy road surface Fatal 77 87 43 Serious 1,206 1,363 612 Slight 7,323 9,654 4,414 Total 8,606 11,104 5,069
Fatal and serious casualties by month: Great Britain 1993–97 Casualties Severity January February March April May June July August September October November December 1993 Fatal 312 252 286 289 341 270 326 290 331 351 384 382 Serious 3,515 3,087 3,417 3,546 3,978 3,837 3,955 3,745 3,868 3,962 3,890 4,209 1994 Fatal 341 267 270 245 255 293 304 295 331 321 365 363 Serious 3,863 3,273 3,616 3,552 3,619 3,820 4,121 3,914 3,885 4,319 4,171 4,378 1995 Fatal 290 267 271 250 259 306 325 354 288 321 345 345 Serious 3,484 3,164 3,673 3,541 3,624 3,822 3,950 4,106 4,121 4,068 4,141 3,829 1996 Fatal 282 249 259 287 256 281 294 342 325 327 316 380 Serious 3,418 3,270 3,279 3,413 3,604 3,635 3,710 4,054 3,881 4,248 4,175 3,786 1997 Fatal 251 290 264 313 292 289 304 320 291 321 354 310 Serious 3,137 3,196 3,556 3,367 3,595 3,633 3,867 3,785 3,362 3,924 3,848 3,697