§ Sir Geoffrey Johnson SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the accident rate for drivers over the age of 70 years, and for each 10-year age group below 70 over the past 10 years. [11489]
§ Mr. BowisThe latest available estimates are shown in the following table. The table shows that driver involvement rates in road injury accidents, in relation to the number of driving licence holders in the age group, fall with age. However, older car drivers and younger, mainly novice, drivers, drive fewer miles per year. When this reduced exposure to accident risk is taken into account, the table shows that, in relation to miles driven, the driver involvement rate increases for age groups over 60, and in relatively higher for 17 to 20-year-olds. There has been little change in relative rates between age groups since 1985–96.
Rate of car driver involvement in road injury accidents Age band 1985–86 1993–95 Per thousand1 car driving licence holders Per million vehicle kilometers Per thousand1 car driving licence holders Per million vehicle kilometers 17–20 30 3.3 27 3.4 21–29 15 1.4 14 1.3 30–39 11 0.9 10 0.8 40–49 9 0.7 8 0.6 50–59 7 0.6 7 0.5 60–69 6 0.7 5 0.6 70+ 6 0.9 5 0.9 1 The rates for each car driver age group are expressed as car driver involvements in injury accidents in relation to the number of full licence holders in each age group. The 17 to 20 year age group does not take into account provisional licence holders because their driving mileage is relatively very low, and accompaniment while learning could reduce their accident involvement risk. Inclusion could unduly bias comparisons between age groups.