§ 38. Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Minister of Transport if, in view of the British Standard Time experiment, he will give the latest available road accident figures for the winter period to date, for the hours of darkness 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., as compared with the same period a year ago.
§ 1. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Minister of Transport whether he now has statistical evidence to show whether the introduction of British Standard Time has resulted in an increase or a decrease in the number of accidents involving children and industrial workers, respectively.
§ Mr. Kitsonasked the Minister of Transport what are the road accident figures for November, 1967, and November, 1968; and how far he estimates that the difference in the figures between the two years is related to the introduction of British Standard Time.
§ Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Minister of Transport if he is aware of the increase in road accidents during the period 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. since the beginning of November, 1968; if there has been a comparable fall in accidents in the period 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MarshThe only month affected by British Standard Time for which complete accident figures are yet available is November, 1968. The figures have not been analysed in all the precise forms 28 requested, but they show that between 7 and 9 a.m. fatal and serious casualties increased by 181, as compared with November, 1967, and between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m. they fell by 232, a net decrease of 51; over the month as a whole casualties rose by 679. Weekday casualties to child pedestrians and cyclists fell by one in the mornings but rose by 18 in the evenings. It would be wrong to attempt to assess the precise effect of British Standard Time at this stage and on the basis of these figures alone.