HC Deb 23 February 1988 vol 128 cc151-3W
Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the accident statistics for both the

M1 junctions 1–10 (Luton) Vehicle numbers and type involved in all accidents
Year and month Number of accidents Motorcycles Cars Buses/Coaches Light goods Heavy goods Total vehicles
North South North South North South North South North South North South North South
1985
January 2 4 1 1 9 1 2 4 10
February 4 11 1 8 25 1 1 2 9 29
March 5 7 1 1 10 9 2 2 7 13 19
April 4 6 1 9 8 1 3 9 13
May 6 5 1 4 5 2 1 3 8 8
June 7 7 8 10 1 1 1 3 13 11
July 7 7 1 1 6 7 1 2 3 2 13 10
August 10 12 1 2 27 15 4 6 2 38 19
September 7 11 1 14 18 1 1 1 3 4 19 24
October 14 8 1 2 30 16 1 1 4 3 1 36 23
November 6 7 2 10 12 1 2 12 15
December 8 8 1 24 12 1 3 1 5 28 19
Total 80 93 8 10 151 145 4 4 15 9 24 31 202 200
1986
January 7 5 14 11 1 3 1 18 12
February 7 5 15 10 1 1 3 16 14
March 8 10 2 1 16 26 3 1 1 3 19 34
April 7 3 2 2 10 4 1 2 1 15 7
May 4 10 1 11 14 2 6 17 17
June 10 6 1 20 5 2 3 1 1 24 9
July 15 5 3 2 12 5 5 7 1 27 8
August 8 13 13 33 2 1 3 14 28
September 17 8 2 47 9 2 1 2 2 3 52 16
October 2 7 1 6 19 1 1 3 8 23
November 10 10 2 1 23 21 1 3 4 4 30 29
December 17 6 64 7 2 3 7 3 76 10
Total 112 86 12 8 251 164 6 7 13 12 34 26 316 217
1987
January 2 6 2 4 1 5 3 9
February 3 6 6 10 2 2 6 14
March 13 6 21 7 1 1 9 2 31 10
April 9 5 19 4 1 3 3 25 5
May 11 9 1 18 14 1 1 1 19 17
June 6 8 1 7 13 1 1 2 8 17
July 11 11 1 1 24 15 2 1 1 2 4 2 32 21
August 17 11 2 1 31 23 3 13 2 49 26
September 12 9 1 1 38 25 1 3 40 29
October 8 10 1 17 21 1 1 2 3 20 26
November 6 18 1 2 10 43 2 1 4 3 17 49
December n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.
Total 98 99 5 8 193 179 3 3 11 8 38 25 250 228
35 months total 290 278 25 26 595 489 13 14 39 29 96 82 763 640

Mr. Pawsey

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles are using the southern end of the M1 from Luton to junction 1, and what is the design capability of the relevant sections of the motorway.

north and south-bound carriageways of the M1 between Luton and junction 1, broken down by type of vehicle and month of occurrence.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

The total number of recorded accidents during the years 1985 to 1987 was 290 northbound and 278 southbound. Full details are in the following table:

Mr. Peter Bottomley

The current annual average daily flow of traffic on the M1 between the various junctions is as follows:

Lanes Vehicles per day (two way)
Junctions
1–2 D3 42,000
2–4 D3 66,000
4–5 D3 77,000
5–6 D3 69,000
6A-7 N4-S3 127,000
7–8 D4 143,000
8–9 D3 117,000
9–10 (Luton) D3 105,000

Departmental standards used in the assessment and design of roads give an upper design threshold for a new dual three-lane motorway of 79,000 vehicles per (annual average) day. There is no upper design threshold for dual four-lane motorways. The design flow for any road is less than its maximum capacity and many sections of existing motorway are currently carrying more traffic than the upper design threshold.

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