Written question asked by Lord Brougham and Vaux (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Davies of Oldham (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 June 2005.

Road Traffic Accidents

Question: What plans they have to collect data indicating the percentage of people killed or injured in road traffic accidents involving passenger vehicles in the United Kingdom that were not taxed, not insured or not in possession of a valid MOT certificate.

Answer: Information on road accidents involving personal injury is collected by the police and reported to the department in a standard format for statistical purposes. Details of whether vehicles involved were taxed, insured or in possession of a valid MOT certificate are not part of the information collected. The department is investigating the possibility of establishing whether vehicles involved in accidents had a current vehicle excise duty licence at the time of the accident by referring to administrative records held by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The feasibility of linking accident data to the MOT data on HGVs and PSVs is being explored. If successful then it may also be possible to identify the MOT status of private vehicles involved in accidents following MOT computerisation. Insurance details of drivers or riders involved in injury accidents do not form part of the statistical information exercise and there are no plans to include this.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 283; 672 c93-4WA
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Accidents Casualties Excise duties Statistics Roads Testing Road traffic offences Tax evasion Motor insurance