HL Deb 15 February 1955 vol 191 cc95-6WA
VISCOUNT THURSO

asked Her Majesty's Government:

(1) What are the numbers of vehicles and mileage of roads in Great Britain, the United States of America and France in 1954, respectively, and the average number of accidents a month in each country, in the latest period of twelve months for which figures are available for all three countries; and

(2) How many of the 238,318 accidents on the roads in Great Britain last year took place in the streets of towns with a population of more than 3,000; and how many of them were on third-class roads.

THE EARL OF SELKIRK

In 1954 there were 5.5 million vehicles and 186,000 miles of road in Great Britain. Corresponding figures for the United States of America were 58.5 million vehicles and 1,950,000 miles and for France 3.8 million vehicles and 380,000 miles.

I regret I am unable to give the noble Viscount figures in respect of total accidents in the three countries as those in France and America are not available on a comparable basis. Information is, however, available showing that in the year 1953 the average numbers of deaths from road accidents a month were 425, 3,190 and 460 for Great Britain, the United States of America and France respectively. Owing to the different conditions and the different statistical methods employed in the three countries these figures are not strictly comparable.

I regret that I have no information on the second part of the question; in 1954, 172,149 casualties resulted from accidents in built-up areas.

House adjourned at seventeen minutes past seven o'clock.