§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Transport what evidence his Department has that the poor servicing of vehicles is a contributory cause of road traffic accidents.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThere have been no recent investigations into the relationship between vehicle faults and road accidents, but a study carried out by the transport and road research laboratory in the early 1970s showed that defects were a major factor in 8½ per cent. of the accidents investigated. A high proportion of the defects involved tyres and brakes. This reflects on car maintenance, although a very small proportion of faults could have been attributable to design or manufacturing problems.