§ Mr. McLoughlinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment his Department has made of the correlation between(a) speed, (b) alcohol consumption and (c) road conditions, and road deaths. [125812]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 13 June 2000]The Department estimate that excess or inappropriate speed is a contributory factor in one in three road deaths.
679WIn 1998 one in seven fatalities occurred in an accident in which at least one driver or rider was over the blood alcohol limit.
A study in 1978–81 estimated that road conditions contributed to one in 17 of all accidents. No separate figure is available for deaths.
The Department will shortly begin a sample on the spot accident investigation which will provide further information on contributory factors. Some information will also emerge from a pilot scheme to collect information from police accident records.