§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if the final figures for road accidents in Great Britain by severity of injury are now available; and what is his estimate of the under-reporting of each of the official figures;
(2) what is his provisional estimate of the deaths and injuries from road accidents in 1980.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkePreliminary estimates of 1980 casualties in road accidents in Great Britain are 5,950 killed, 79,000 seriously injured and 242,000 slightly injured. Final figures are not yet available. There is no reason to suspect under-reporting of deaths in road accident statistics.
A study of admissions and outpatients in one hospital during 1974–1976 indicated that a fifth of those classified as seriously injured and a third of those slightly injured had not been reported to the police, and would therefore not be included in road accident statistics. Those not reported tended to be the less-severely injured and were more likely to have been involved in single-vehicle accidents. A disproportionate number were cyclists.