HC Deb 18 November 1992 vol 214 cc278-9W
Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what consideration he is giving to restricting the engine size of cars driven by fully qualified drivers(a) under the age of 22 years or (b) for newly qualified drivers over the age of 21 years for the first year after they have passed their driving test; and if he will make a statement;

(2) what consideration he has given to introducing P plates to denote newly qualified drivers; and if he will make a statement;

(3) what measures he plans to introduce to reduce deaths and injuries as a result of driving errrors caused by drivers under the age of 22 years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Kenneth Carlisle

I have commissioned an extensive research programme into the causes of accidents involving young and inexperienced drivers, with a view to developing a set of measures to reduce their high accident rate. Whether those measures suggested by the hon. Member are included will depend on how their likely effectiveness is assessed by that research.

Mr. Burns

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what proportion of road accidents involved cars driven by (a) 17 to 21-year-olds,(b) 22 to 30-year-olds, (c) 31 to 40-year-olds, (d) 41 to 64-year-olds and (e) over 64-year-olds result in (i) death or (ii) personal injuries; and if he will make a statement;

Road injury accidents1 and car drivers, by type and severity of accident: Great Britain: 1991
Number/percentage
Accidents2 Car drivers
Injury accident type Number Percentage of all injury accidents Percentage fatal Number Percentage in fatal accidents
Car accidents
Car driver age3
17 to 21 47,816 20.3 1.79 51,017 1.81
22 to 30 74,281 31.5 1.58 83,669 1.56
31 to 40 54,420 23.1 1.33 59,746 1.33
41 to 64 65,312 27.7 1.49 73,125 15.1
65 or more 16,162 6.9 2.35 16,747 2.33
All car accidents 205,097 87.0 1.62 308,007 1.53
All accidents 235,798 100.0 1.76 308,007 1.53
1 Details of road accidents where nobody is injured are not collected.
2 Accidents with more than one car may be in more than one category.
3 Excluding drivers whose age was not reported.

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