HC Deb 08 December 2003 vol 415 c275W
Mr. McNamara

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many deaths of service personnel were due to road traffic accidents in each year since 1990; and how many and what proportion of deaths occurred(a) as part of a combat mission, (b) on military exercises, (c) inside barracks or military premises and (d) in civilian vehicles. [141800]

Mr. Ingram

Between 1990 and 2002 there were 807 road traffic accident (RTA) deaths among United Kingdom regular Service personnel (both trained and untrained), details of which by year are given in the following table. Of these, the NATO Standard Agreement (STANAG) (2050) coding system used to record injury-related deaths describes six (0.7 per cent.) as having occurred as Battle Casualties, 13 (1.6 per cent.) as having occurred during exercises, and the remaining 788 (97.6 per cent.) as accidental injuries. Information on the civilian ownership of vehicles is not specifically recorded, although 85 (10.6 per cent.) of the RTA deaths described were recorded as having occurred in military-owned vehicles. Information on the number of accidents which occurred inside barracks or on military premises is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Deaths of Regular Service personnel resulting from Road Traffic

Accidents: 1990–2002

Year Number
1990 100
1991 91
1992 80
1993 75
1994 58
1995 52
1996 42
1997 51
1998 61
1999 42
2000 45
2001 48
2002 62
Total 807