§ Mr. Scott-Hopkinsasked the Minister of Transport what is the proportion of cars registered over 10 years ago to the total of all cars registered in 1959; and 134W what is the accident rate in these two groups, given as a percentage of the whole.
§ Mr. MarplesNo information is available about the proportion of cars licensed in 1959 which were first registered over 10 years earlier, but it is known that 23.7 per cent. of all cars licensed in 1959 and 30.1 per cent. of those licensed in 1958 were registered before 1st January, 1947. The comparative accident rates in 1959 are not available, but analyses made by the Road Research Laboratory show that the number of cars which were involved in fatal and serious accidents in 1958 was 5.9 per 1,000 for cars registered before 1947 and 7.9 per 1,000 for cars registered later. To interpret these figures some knowledge of the distances travelled by old and new vehicles is required. Unfortunately this is not available.