§ Sir R. Russellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment how the number
Injury accidents Casualties Casualties per million motor vehicle miles* Great Britain … … … 261,840 352,894 2.90 Irish Republic … … … 6,530 10,028 — Austria … … … 50,189 70,206 — Belgium … … … 73,646 102,103 5.90 Denmark … … … 20,159† 26,845† l.97† Federal Republic of Germany … … … 338,921 489,033 3.26 Finland … … … 11,368 16,254 2.43 France … … … 221,400 327,700 3.07 Italy … … … 175,780 240,700 2.56 Luxembourg … … … 1,417 2,175 — Netherlands … … … 58,702 70,674 2.74 Norway … … … 8,882 11,812 1.79 Spain … … … 54,897 84,563 — Sweden … … … 17,337 24,474 — Switzerland … … … 27,036 35,595 — United States of America … … … 1,500,000† 2,355,500† 2.03† Canada … … … 115,406† 179,219† 2.19† Australia … … … 58,759† 85,592† 2.45† New Zealand … … … 12,554 19,296 2.35 South Africa … … … 43,194† 60,321† — * Although these rates are more meaningful than crude numbers of casualties for purposes of international comparison they still need careful interpretation. There is wide variation among countries in the completeness of reporting road casualties and in the methods of estimating traffic. There are also many factors other than the total volume of traffic which have a bearing on casualty rates, such as the composition and density of traffic, types of roads and the degree of urbanisation. † 1968 figures. —Not available.