§ Mr. Soleyasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many deaths on the road were caused by drunken driving during 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe cause of road accidents is not routinely collected. Alcohol is considered to be a significant contributory cause in about a tenth of all road accidents in Great Britain (ie about 26,000 personal injury accidents, of which about 540 would have been fatal, in 1982).
About a fifth (ie 1,200 in 1982) of all road deaths are associated with drinking by drivers and pedestrians in excess of the legal limit for drivers.
It is not possible to distinguish between years for such estimates, but annual percentages of dead drivers whose blood alcohol exceeded 80 mg./100 ml, and of drivers involved in accidents who failed the breath test, are given in "Road Accidents Great Britain 1982", a copy of which is in the Library, pages 20 and 42.