HC Deb 15 January 1988 vol 125 c455W
Mr. Redwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of road traffic accidents were related to drink-driving in 1986.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

It is estimated that about one tenth of all injury accidents result from driving with excess alcohol in the blood. There were 247,854 injury accidents in 1986.

In 1985, 1,000 road users died in crashes and collisions where the driver or rider was over the legal limit, representing one fifth of all road deaths in 19852.

In 1985, 60 per cent. of drivers and riders who were killed in road accidents between 10 pm and 4 am had a blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit, compared with 15 per cent. at other times of the day3.

1. "The facts about drinking and driving", published by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, 1986.

2. Page 34, "Road Accidents Great Britain 1986 — The Casualty Report", published by HMSO, 1987.

3. Ibid, table CS, page 36.