§ 76. Mr. J. H. Osbornasked the Minister of Transport, in the year ended 31st December, 1969, how many vehicles, by category and in total, including passenger cars and heavy goods vehicles, respectively, were tested under the Ministry of Transport vehicle testing schemes; how many in each category, and in total, failed; what was the percentage of failure; and how these figures compare with the previous year.
Mr. Bob BrownDuring 1969 8,832,498 vehicles were tested under the car testing scheme. Of these 7,781,424 were cars, 614,061 motor cycles and 437,013 light goods vehicles. 2,752,506 (31 per cent.) failed to pass the test when initially submitted, comprising 2,449,923 (32 per cent.) cars, 151,353 (24 per cent.) motor cycles and 151,230 (24 per cent.) light goods vehicles.
During 1968 7,935,936 vehicles were tested. Of these 6,881,094 were cars, 686,556 motor cycles and 368,286 light goods vehicles. 2,385,879 (30 per cent.) failed to pass the test when initially submitted. Of these 2,098,707 (30 per cent.) were cars, 159,474 (23 per cent.) were motor cycles and 127,698 (33 per cent.) were light goods vehicles.
During 1969 the statistics concerning heavy goods vehicles were kept in terms of the number of tests and re-tests conducted on vehicles at Ministry testing stations, and not in terms of the number of vehicles tested. A vehicle which was re-submitted for a test was recorded as two tests. Out of a total of 534,243 tests, 160,258 (30 per cent.) resulted in the testing station not being able to issue a test certificate because of the presence of defects.
Since the scheme did not start until 1st October, 1968, in England and Wales and 1st December, 1968, in Scotland, no comparative figures are available for 1968.