§ 26. Sir T. Mooreasked the Minister of Transport whether he will break down the figures, contained in the statement issued by his Department, that some 60 fatal accidents on the roads had occurred during the Easter holiday; and if he will in future authorise such statements to include at least the class of person involved, such as motorist, cyclist, pedestrian and, in the latter category, whether they are young, old or blind.
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettThe provisional figures for fatal casualties which are announced over the holiday periods cannot, at the time, be broken down into categories. Fuller information is given at monthly intervals, and I shall be glad to send my hon. Friend the statement for March when it is published later this month.
§ Sir T. MooreI thank my hon. and gallant Friend for that personal undertaking in regard to information being given to me. Does he appreciate, however, that the purpose of my putting down this Question was to enable the public generally to appreciate the dangers on the road and the need to do their best to avoid them?
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettI appreciate that. That is the reason why figures are issued at daily intervals during public holiday periods. But they give only a very rough indication, which often has to be changed a great deal when more accurate figures are announced later, and we think that it would be misleading to attempt to make the immediate release of information more selective, because we should then be dealing with much smaller numbers.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithCan my hon. and gallant Friend say whether a fuller analysis is now being made of each serious accident which occurs, irrespective of the time of year when it occurred—holiday period or not?
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettThat is another question.
43. The Earl of Dalkeithasked the Minister of Transport what was the average number of road accident deaths and the average number of motor vehicles in use in the five-year periods 1930–34 inclusive and 1958–62, respectively.
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettThe average annual number of deaths was 7,042 in the period 1930–34, and 6,615 in the period 1958–62. There was an average of 2.3 million motor vehicles in use in the first period and 8.8 million in the second.
The Earl of DalkeithDoes not this show that progress is being made in the right direction and does it not reflect a great deal of credit, not only on motorists but on motor manufacturers, for their safety appliances, also on the medical services, and not least on my hon. and gallant Friend's Department for its road safety campaigns and also for providing a great many better roads?
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettI agree with my noble Friend, but it is fair to say that a number of factors have been at work. One is the better design of vehicles. It should also be remembered that pedestrian crossings, the 30 miles-an-hour speed limit in built-up areas and driving tests were all introduced in 1934 and 1935 and there was a sharp drop in the number of deaths. In 1952 zebra crossings were introduced and again the number of deaths showed a great drop.
§ Mr. StraussWhile a number of organisations and different Governments have contributed to this satisfactory result, will the Parliamentary Secretary say that he will not be complacent about the present rate of road accidents?
§ Vice-Admiral Hughes HallettI assure the right hon. Member that I shall not be complacent because, unfortunately, recently the trend has reversed and it is now on the upgrade again.