§ Mr. Merchantasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide details on the number of road accidents involving low bridges in the last five years.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe following data are available:
Vehicles which hit a bridge roof in personal injury road accidents, by vehicle type and accident severity: Great Britain 1979 to 1983 Fatal Serious Slight All Buses and Coaches 1 8 23 32 Light goods vehicles — 7 52 59 Heavy goods vehicles 3 43 155 201 Other large motor vehicles — 5 25 30 Other vehicles and type not reported 4 4 18 26 All vehicles 8 67 273 348 The reporting form does not specify roof height; some of these accidents may be due to extra tall vehicles rather than unusually low bridges. The data are incomplete for 1979 to 1981, because of the phased introduction of the new reporting form; 1983 figures are not yet complete. However, the shortfall in the total is unlikely to exceed 10 per cent.