40. Mr. J. J. Davidsonasked the Minister of Transport the number of street accidents, fatal or otherwise, in Glasgow since 3rd September, 1939; and the number of cases in which intemperance was the proved primary cause?
§ Captain WallaceDuring the period from 4th September, 1939, to 5th November, 1939, inclusive, 52 persons were killed and 893 persons were injured in road accidents in Glasgow. Information is not available as to the number of cases in which intemperance was the primary cause.
Mr. DavidsonIs the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware of the widespread allegations that are being made by certain officials in Glasgow that intemperance is the cause of many of the accidents, and does he not think, in view of these allegations, that the Ministry of Transport ought to make inquiries with regard to them?
§ Captain WallaceAs I have pointed out before to the House, an inquiry into the primary cause of every accident is an extremely difficult thing. We had two periods in which this was done—in the year ended 31st March, 1937, and in the calendar year 1935. We have not been able to continue that in peace time, and it is still less possible to continue it in war; but in the periods when these analyses were taken statistics went to show that the cases in which intemperance was put down as the primary cause amounted to less than 2 per cent.
§ Mr. MacquistenWas the intemperance on the part of the pedestrians or of the drivers?