§ Mr. ThurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimates he has of(a) the reduction in deaths and serious injuries resulting from the requirement for car passengers to wear rear seat belts and (b) the cost to the motor manufacturers of the requirement.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleIt has been estimated that full compliance with the rear seat belt wearing requirements would save at least 100 lives and 1,000 serious injuries a year, but since the requirement has applied to adults only since July 1991, there is insufficient statistical evidence to demonstrate the actual savings. In the six months July to December 1991 deaths and serious injuries to adult rear seat passengers fell by 14 per cent. and to child rear seat passengers by 12 per cent. compared with the corresponding period in 1990, but it is not known how much of this reduction can be attributed to seat belt wearing.
The wearing regulations impose no additional cost to motor manufacturers: all new cars since October 1987 have been required to be fitted with rear seat belts.