§ Mr. John GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the road safety figures for the last year for which figures are available for the United Kingdom and the other EC countries.
§ Mr. ParkinsonThe United Kingdom has an excellent record for road safety compared with our foreign neighbours. The rate of road deaths at 9.4 per 100,000 head of population was the lowest of all the European Community countries in 1987. In 1988, the United Kingdom has achieved a further 1 per cent. reduction in fatalities, and a 1.5 per cent. reduction in serious injuries, although international comparisons for that year are not yet available. The detailed information is contained in the following table:
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Number of road deaths1 Motor vehicles per 1,000 population Road deaths per 100,000 population Road deaths per 100,000 motor vehicles Car user deaths per 100 million car kilometers Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 population Japan 12,151 563 9.9 1.8 1.4 3.0 New Zealand 3767 3632 323.1 33.7 .. 33.4 United States of America 46,386 784 19.5 2.5 91.0 3.4 1 In accordance with the commonly agreed international definition, most countries define a fatality as being due to a road accident if death occurs within 30 days of the accident. The official road accident statistics of some countries however, limit the fatalities to those occurring within shorter periods after the accident. Numbers of deaths and death rates in the above table have been adjusted according to the factors used by the Economic Commission for Europe and the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, to represent standardised 30-day deaths: France (6 days) +9 per cent.; Italy (7 days) +7 per cent.; Greece, Austria (3 days) +12 per cent.; Spain, Japan (24 hours) +30 per cent.; Canada, Switzerland (1 year) -5 per cent.; Portugal (at the scene) +35 per cent. 2 1985. 3 1986. 4 Excluding lorries. 5 Nationals' vehicles only. 6 Traffic on state roads only. 7 Including traffic on private roads. 8 Including nationals' cars abroad. 9 Intercity transport.