§ 27. Sir Fergus Montgomeryasked the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the relative performance of the United Kingdom in road safety compared with that of other European countries.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyMy assessment is based on the rate of road deaths per 100,000 population. In the latest available statistics, the rate for the United Kingdom — 10.2 in 1984—is the lowest of any member state of the European Community. Rates in Norway and Sweden are lower still at 9.8 and 9.6 respectively. With over 300,000 killed or injured on our roads, the figures are still too high. There remains considerable scope for further improvement, particularly to reduce casualties among vulnerable road users on urban and residential streets.