§ 57. Mr. LEWISasked the Minister of Transport if he can give the House any figures to show whether the passing of the Road Traffic Act has reduced the number of cases of death and injury due to accidents on the roads?
§ Mr. PYBUSAs the answer to this question involves a number of figures, I propose, with my hon. Friend's permission, to circulate it in the OFFICIAL-REPORT.
§ Mr. LEWISCan the hon. Gentleman tell us, in the meantime, whether he is now satisfied with the present rate of mortality among pedestrians?
§ Following is the answer:
§ The figures compiled by the Home Office relating to the number of persons killed or injured in street accidents in Great Britain for the years 1928–1932 are as follows:
| Total Killed or Injured in Street Accidents. | ||||
| Killed. | Injured. | |||
| 1928 | … | … | 6,138 | 164,838 |
| 1929 | … | … | 6,696 | 170,917 |
| 1930 | … | … | 7,305 | 177,895 |
| 1931 | … | … | 6,691 | 202,119 |
| 1932 | … | … | (6,651) | (206,410) |
| (The figures for 1932 are provisional.) |
§ Of the above the following were the number of persons killed or injured in 1003 accidents which were reported as being attributable to mechanically-propelled vehicles:
| Killed. | Injured. | |||
| 1928 | … | … | 5,489 | 133,431 |
| 1929 | … | … | 6,017 | 140,248 |
| 1930 | … | … | 6,551 | 146,243 |
| 1931 | … | … | 5,936 | 164,406 |
| (The figures for 1932 are not yet available). |
§ The provisions of Part I of the Road Traffic Act, 1930, came into operation on 1st January, 1931, and in that year the figures for fatal accidents for the first time showed a decrease. If the provisional figures for 1932 are confirmed, there was a further slight decrease during that year. On the other hand the number of persons injured shows a continued increase. This may be due to a considerable extent to the new requirements in the Road Traffic Act, 1930, with regard to the reporting of accidents.