Alcohol Related Road Accidents (Hansard, 27 April 1989)

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, provisional figures for 1988 show 5,041 people killed in road accidents, and 63,375 seriously injured.
We do not yet have complete 1987 or 1988 figures for the numbers killed or injured in accidents where a driver had a high blood or breath alcohol content. In 1986 an estimated 950 people, nearly 20 per cent. of the total, were killed in accidents where a driver had a high blood or breath alcohol content.

§ Lord Dormand of Easington
My Lords, while the significant decrease in accidents in recent years is to be warmly welcomed—the figure used to be 8,000 as the Minister will know—will the Minister give a firm assurance that those figures will not give rise to any complacency, particularly as in some parts of the country accidents are on the increase? Does he agree that if 5,000 people were killed in air crashes or rail crashes every year there would be uproar? On the question of drink driving, particularly in view of the Answer that he has just given me, does the Minister not accept that the time has come for some form of random testing?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that there is no complacency whatsoever and I hope that no complacency will develop among drivers, because every accident is a tragedy. The White Paper The Road User and the Law sets out proposals for further legal measures to deal with offenders. The campaign to change driver attitudes is also continuing with the welcome support of police and local road safety officers as well as that of many private organisations, including brewers, insurance companies, the AA and the RAC.

The Viscount of Falkland
My Lords, does the Minister agree that recent opinion polls and the television programme "That's Life" last week show that a large majority of people in this country would now welcome random breath testing, if I may follow on the question of the noble Lord who preceded me? Are the Government prepared to introduce random breath testing? Can the Minister give us some details about the Government's thinking?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I can tell the noble Viscount what is already in force. The police already have wide powers under the Road Traffic Act to stop motorists. They can carry out breath tests if a moving traffic offence has been committed, if the motorist has been involved in an accident or if they suspect the driver has been drinking. The Home Secretary announced last February that there would be consultation on this issue and the Government will consider the need to revise the law in view of response to the consultation.

§ Lord Underhill
My Lords, does the noble Viscount recall that in our debate on the White Paper The Road User and the Law there was considerable support from all sides of the House for legislation to be introduced, at least in the next Session, on the basis of the North Report on the White Paper proposals? Will the Minister give some assurance that every effort will be made to ensure that this 1367 legislation is introduced in the next Session? Am I right in saying that there are certain proposals dealing with drink driving which do not require primary legislation? Is it the Government's intention to introduce orders within the next few months?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I am afraid that I am not in a position to give any such assurance. However, I can assure the noble Lord that I shall draw his remarks to the attention of my noble friend and also of my right honourable friend.

§ Lord Grimond
My Lords, is there not an extraordinary contrast between the attention and indeed expenditure given to the lamentable deaths of 94people at a football match and to the statistics which we have just heard? While I do not accuse the Government of complacency in any way, does that not suggest that by far the most serious cause of accidents is dangerous driving on the roads and that it is to that which public attention ought to be directed?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I agree entirely with the noble Lord. However, I must point out to the House that the trend in serious accidents—in road deaths and serious injuries—has been falling considerably over the past 10 years.

§ Lord Orr-Ewing
My Lords, can my noble friend perhaps try to bring out statistics which are rather more up to date if we are considering legislation on this matter? It is amazing that as computers get faster and faster the results coming out of them get slower and slower. Does my noble friend agree that it seems slightly out of date not to be able to give the figures for 1987 when people have been killed?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, information on road injury accidents is sent to the department by police forces on a STATS 19 form. The forms generally arrive after local checking about three months after the month in which an accident occurred. Information on blood alcohol content of people killed in a road accident is obtained from coroners' reports sent to the Transport and Road Research Laboratory. The reports then have to be matched with fatal casualties from the STATS 19 data to provide the required information. Not all coroners co-operate in sending returns and some are very slow. This is a voluntary exercise. It is hoped to close the 1987 file shortly and the 1988 file before the end of the year.

§ Lord Dormand of Easington
My Lords, while I understand that the Minister should give information about the legislation relating to drink driving, and very properly so, he has not really answered the question on random testing. I do not ask him to answer now, but can he give an assurance that random testing—and there are different forms of random testing—will be considered seriously for the near future?

§ Viscount Davidson
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for not expecting me to answer now. I shall certainly give the matter consideration.