§ 26. Captain Sir WILLIAM BRASSasked the Minister of Transport if he can inform the House of the number of fatal road accidents which took place in the last completed year when the 20-miles an-hour speed limit was in force and the first completed year when it had been abolished under the Road Traffic 10 Act, 1930; and the total number of motor vehicles of all descriptions registered in these two years, respectively?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of TRANSPORT (Lieut.-Colonel Headlam)During 1930, the last complete year in which a speed limit for private motor cars was in force, there were 7,074 fatal road accidents resulting in the death of 7,305 persons, while during 1931, the first completed year in which the speed limit had been removed, there were 6,499 fatal road accidents and 6,691 persons killed. The total number of mechanically propelled road vehicles for which licences were current at any time during the quarters ended 30th September, 1930 and 1931, declined from 2,287,326 to 2,213,722.
§ Sir W. BRASSDoes not my hon. and gallant Friend think that as, following the removal of the speed limit, there was a reduction in the number of fatal accidents its reimposition would be a useless move?
§ Lieut.-Colonel HEADLAMI do not think one can form any estimate from these figures. The year 1930 was a very bad year; the number of killed was 9 per cent. greater than in the previous year, 1929. The total nnmber of casualties on the roads for the period 1926 to 1933 shows, I am sorry to say, a considerable increase.
§ Sir W. BRASSIs it not a fact that, taking into account the difference in the number of vehicles to-day and the number before the speed limit was abolished, the percentage of accidents is considerably reduced now?