§ Mr. Snapeasked the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department has on the relationship between speed and the severity of road accidents; and what action he proposes to take on that information.
§ Mr. MooreAccident risk and severity generally increase with speed. If properly chosen and enforced, speed limits constrain speeds. On local roads where most accidents happen, authorities can also influence speeds by appropriate engineering techniques. My Department has issued advice on both aspects.
§ Mr. Snapeasked the Secretary of State for Transport what the number of accidents and the accident rate for coaches is per 100 million vehicle kilometres, by type and class of road, and by severity, for each of the last 10 years; and whether he will take steps to ensure that future editions of "Road Accidents (Great Britain)" disaggregates the rates for buses and coaches in all the tables which refer to bus and coach accidents.
§ Mr. David MitchellI regret that the information requested is not available because the road accident report form does not distinguish between buses and coaches. The road accident reporting system is currently under review and this is one of the aspects under consideration.