§ Mr. Bellengerasked the Minister of Transport if he will give the numbers of fatal accidents at Christmas 1964 and the numbers of fatal accidents throughout the year which involved drivers who had consumed alcohol.
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§ Mr. Tom FraserDuring Christmas, 1964, there were 110 fatal accidents in England and Wales over a period of six days. In 44 of these accidents at least one driver or rider had been drinking. A special analysis of post-mortem examinations carried out on road users who died within 12 hours of a road accident during December and January last winter showed that 38 per cent. of drivers or riders who were themselves killed had been drinking. I regret that there is no similar information for the year as a whole; drivers involved in accidents, fatal or otherwise, are not normally tested for alcohol consumption unless their behaviour gives the police reason to suppose that their ability to drive properly is impaired by drink, and post-mortem examination of road accident victims is not the standard practice.