§ Viscount Tenbyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the latest available annual figures for death in alcohol-related accidents on the roads; and (a) how many of these were caused by drivers over the legally-permitted limit; (b) how many were 106WA caused by drivers with alcohol in their bloodstream but below the legal limit; and (c) how many were due to drunken pedestrians or cyclists. [HL1103]
§ Lord WhittyIt is estimated that, in 1996, 580 road users died in those drink-drive accidents in Great Britain which involved a motor-vehicle driver who had over the legally-permitted limit of alcohol in their bloodstream. Provisional estimates suggest that there were around 540 deaths in such accidents in 1997.
It is not possible to provide comparable estimates for drivers below the legal limit since the blood alcohol level of drivers below the legal limit is not generally recorded except in post mortem examinations of drivers who were killed in road accidents.
Drunken pedestrians and cyclists are not normally included in the drink driving accident statistics and comparable estimates of the additional numbers of accidents involving pedestrians who had been drinking are not available.