§ Sir W. Bromley-Davenportasked the Minister of Transport whether, in connection with her publicity with regard to the new Road Safety Act, she will 39W publish the figures available to her Department showing how accident rates have changed in Sweden and West Germany in each year since the introduction of similar legislation in those countries in 1941 and 1965, respectively.
§ Mr. CarmichaelIn Sweden, the number of road accidents in 1940 was 7,190. In 1941 (in July of which maximum blood/alcohol levels were introduced for drivers) the total fell to 6,256. Figures for later years were as follows:
Year Road accidents 1942 6,765 1943 6,352 1944 6,100 1945 6,507 1946 14,410 1947 17,847 1948 15,468 1949 15,859 1950 20,427 1951 24,561 1952 29,510 1953 31,914 1954 40,651 1955 45,850 1956 49,227 1957 51,857 1958 56,575 1959 55,959 1960 58,060 1961 60,318 1962 62,041 1963 63,213 1964 63,451 The figures include all accidents investigated by the police, and not only injury accidents, as figures for the earlier years are available only on this basis. They may reflect differing levels of police activity.
In West Germany the number of injury accidents in 1964 was 328,668, and in 1965 was 316,361. The figure for 1966 is not yet available.