§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many breakdown and recovery vehicles exempt from the MOT20W test (a) are currently operating on (i) motorways and (ii) other roads and (b) were involved in vehicle accidents in the last year for which figures are available. [116133]
§ Mr. HillSuch vehicles are exempt from the MOT test if they are constructed such that they tow vehicles that they are recovering rather than carry them. Although it is not possible to say precisely how many of these there are, a good approximation is the number of vehicles whose body type is recorded as a breakdown truck. Further to these, there will also be a number of other vehicles in the recovery vehicles tax class that are exempt from the MOT test because they are less than one year old. The estimated numbers of those licensed and exempt from the MOT test at the end of 1998 are as follows:
- Breakdown trucks: 10,224
- Other recovery vehicles first registered in 1998: 110
- Total: 10,334
These figures come from the record of licensed vehicles in Great Britain held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. No details are held about the roads upon which these vehicles operate.
Road accident data are available by body type of the vehicles involved. In 1998 there were 104 recorded injury accidents involving breakdown trucks. This figure may be a slight under-estimate as in some accidents details of the vehicle's body type can not be obtained.