Written question asked by Peter L Pike (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 February 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 1 March 2005. It was answered by David Jamieson (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 March 2005 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Dept for Transport

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what statistics his Department collects for (a) all road traffic accidents and (b) road traffic accidents involving newly qualified drivers; and if he will make a statement. - Inc figure and ref to "Road Casualties Great Britain: Annual Report" on the Departments website.

Answer: Mr. Pike: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what statistics his Department collects for (a) all road traffic accidents and (b) road traffic accidents involving newly qualified drivers; and if he will make a statement. [218772] Mr. Jamieson: The Department for Transport collects detailed statistics on road accidents involving personal injury. These are reported in the annual publication "Road Casualties Great Britain: Annual Report", which can be found on the Department's website. There were 214,030 road accidents involving personal injury in 2003. Information on whether drivers are newly qualified is not collected in this system. However, we know from research we have undertaken that one in five new drivers has some sort of accident within one year of passing their driving test. A cohort study of new drivers currently under way will refresh this information.

Secondary information