§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of children under school-leaving age were involved in road traffic accidents in the United Kingdom in 1991; and what information he has on the equivalent figures for each European Community and European Free Trade Association country.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThere were 46,126 reported road casualties aged under 16 years in the United Kingdom during 1991, which represents a rate of 0.40 per 100 population. Comparable data for other EC and EFTA countries are not available. Instead, the table shows road fatalities aged under 15 in those countries and the corresponding fatality rates per million population in that age group.
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Child1 road fatalities and fatality rates: EC and EFTA countries: 1990 Number/rate per million population Country Fatalities Fatality rate EC Belgium2 94 52 Denmark 48 54 France 524 46 Germany 554 44 Greece 93 346 Ireland 46 48 Italy 247 26 Luxembourg2 5 78 Netherlands 100 37 Portugal2 190 94 Spain 399 51
Country Fatalities Fatality rate United Kingdom 394 36 EFTA Austria 67 50 Finland 45 47 Iceland 3 47 Norway 18 22 Sweden 35 23 Switzerland 47 41 1Aged under 15. 21989 data. 3 Based on 1988 population. Source: IRTAD database (OECD) and UNECE,
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what percentage of children under school-leaving age were injured in road traffic accidents in each United Kingdom region in the latest year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe table shows the number of reported road accident casualties aged under 16 in each United Kingdom region in 1991, and the corresponding casualty rates per 100 population in that age group as follows:
Child1 casualties and casualty rates2, by region: United Kingdom 1991 Number/rate per 100 population Regions Number of casualties Casualty rate England North 2,591 0.42 North West 6,554 0.50 Yorkshire and Humberside 4,230 0.42 East Midlands 3,205 0.40 West Midlands 4,303 0.40 East Anglia 1,557 0.38 South East 12,798 0.37 South West 2,854 0.32 England total 38,092 0.40 Wales 2,343 0.40 Scotland 4,156 0.41 Northern Ireland 1,535 0.36 United Kingdom total 46,126 0.40 1 Aged under 16. Excludes age not reported. 2 1990 population estimates used to calculate rate.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a figure showing the average cost to the Exchequer of each road traffic accident, including a figure for the average cost of medical care.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleThe total costs of road accidents are updated each year and published in the Department of Transport publication, "Highways Economic Note No 1" and in "Road Accidents Great Britain".
Direct costs to the Exchequer include medical costs, social security payments, police costs and lost revenue from taxation due to loss of earnings. The table shows average total cost, average cost to the Exchequer excluding lost taxation revenue for which no estimate is available, and also medical costs.
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Average total cost Average cost to Exchequer Average medical and ambulance costs £ £ £ Fatal accidents 762,800 12,600 1,620 Serious accidents 26,500 4,600 2,970 Slight accidents 2,500 500 150 All injury accidents 20,400 1,400 700