§ Mr. ColvinTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people were accidentally killed on the roads in Northern Ireland last year; and what was the average number for the previous five years.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyOne hundred and eighty-one people were killed on the roads in Northern Ireland in 1989. The average during the previous five years was 199. In 1986, 236 died.
A programme was launched on 31 October to achieve the following targets:
to reduce by one third within 12 months commencing 1 November the average annual fatality rate of 210 over the last three years; andto reduce by one third serious road casualties—killed and seriously injured—by the end of the century.The preliminary total of deaths from 1 November 1989 to 30 June 1990 shows a 13 per cent. decrease over the same period last year. This statistic may change.
Reduced levels of drink driving are likely to be contributing to reduced levels of death.
§ Mr. KilfedderTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland by how much the number of road deaths has fallen since the launch of the road casualty reduction campaign.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe fall has been 18 per cent. Since the campaign was launched on 1 November 1989, road deaths have fallen to 114 compared with 139 for the same period last year. The number is provisional.
I am grateful that the media in Northern Ireland have been treating road deaths as events that generally have avoidable causes. It is particularly noticeable that the main categories—adults as passengers, pedestrians and drivers—have fallen from 117 to 84, a drop of 28 per cent.