§ Mr. MullinTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if, pursuant to his answer of 2 December, there was any change in the method of calculation of the number of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles between 1979 and 1980.
§ Mr. Peter Bottomley[holding answer 9 December 1988]: There was no change in the method of calculation of the number of accidents involving heavy goods vehicles between 1979 and 1980.
The fall in the number of fatal accidents involving heavy goods vehicles between 1979 and 1980 is part of a long-term trend going back to 1969. This trend is illustrated in terms of the numbers of goods vehicles involved in fatal accidents. Between 1969 and 1975, the number of heavy goods vehicles involved in fatal accidents fell from 1,700 to just over 1,000, a drop of nearly 40 per cent. This number remained fairly constant until 1980, when it fell further to 850 heavy goods vehicles in fatal accidents. The fall is likely to have been caused in part by the trend towards fewer, but larger, vehicles, and partly by the shift towards higher standard roads.
A brief article on this trend was included on page 12 of "Road Accidents Great Britain 1982".