HC Deb 13 July 1988 vol 137 cc217-8W
Mr. Tony Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the distribution by sex of drink-driving offenders;

(2) what is the distribution by sex of offenders convicted of driving without due care and attention.

Mr. John Patten

In 1986, 95 per cent. of those found guilty of driving and so on after consuming alcohol or taking drugs were males, and for careless driving and so on 86 per cent. Information on the age and sex of offenders is published annually, by broad offence group in a Home Office statistical bulletin "Offences Relating to Motor Vehicles, England and Wales". Table 8 of the issue for 1986, number 36/87 is the latest available and copies of this bulletin are in the Library. The offence of driving without due care and attention is grouped together with other offences of careless driving and so on, and findings of guilt

cautioned, (b) prosecuted and (c) convicted for driving without due care and attention in Nottinghamshire, London and the north-west; and if he will express these figures as a proportion per 10,000 drivers in the said area, for each of the last five years.

Mr. John Patten

The available information is for 1983 to 1986 and is shown in the table. Information collected centrally on written warnings does not distinguish the specific offence of driving without due care and attention from other offences of careless driving etc. with which it is grouped. Figures for proceedings and findings of guilt for this specific offence, which form the vast majority of the offences in this group, could be broken down by police force area only at disproportionate cost. The figures are related to the home population of the police force area concerned although the offenders may not have been resident in the area; information on the number of drivers in each area is not available.

for this specific offence, which forms the vast majority of the offences in the careless driving category, could be broken down by sex of offender only at disproportionate cost. The figures for 1987 will be published later this year.