§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether, in support of his policy of reducing serious accidents on the road and in the light of the remarks made by Mr. Roy Jermyn, the coroner at the Southend inquest on Mark Ginn and John Gibbs on Thursday 19 August, that motor cycles should be banned from the public highways, he will consider introducing legislation to give effect to the coroner's request.
§ Mrs. Chalker:No. The Government are seriously concerned about the level of motor cycle accidents. However, we believe that the right approach is to improve the safety of motor cyclists rather than banning them from the public highway.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Transport whether he will give for the latest and most convenient stated period of time the number of road accidents in which motor cyclists were involved in any way and the numbers of deaths and injuries resulting from these accidents; and in these cases how many were motor cyclists, their pillion passengers, other road vehicle drivers, and pedestrians.
§ Mrs. Chalker:In Great Britain in 1981, motor cycles* were involved in 68,859 injury accidents resulting in the following casualties:
Killed Injured Motor cycle riders 983 60,562 Motor cycle passengers 148 7,436 Other vehicle† drivers 45 4,001 Other vehicles† passengers 16 1,514 Pedestrians hit by motor cycles 217 6,625 Pedestrians hit by other vehicles 4 103 * Motor cycles include mopeds and motor scooters. † Other vehicles include pedal cycles.