Written question asked by Owen Paterson (Conservative) on Tuesday, 19 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 June 2007. It was answered by Stephen Ladyman (Labour) on Thursday, 21 June 2007 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Roads: Accidents

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many (a) road traffic accidents (RTAs) and (b) RTAs involving serious injury or fatalities were recorded in each year since 1997 in which mechanical failure or defects, including tyres, have been identified as the cause or a contributory factor;

Answer: Comprehensive information on what types of defects detectable during the MOT test have led to serious and fatal accidents is not available.From 2005 information has been collected on contributory factors to reported personal injury road accidents, including vehicle defects. These are ““tyres illegal, defective or under inflated””, ““defective lights or indicators””, ““defective brakes””, ““defective steering or suspension””, ““defective or missing mirrors”” and ““overloaded or poorly loaded vehicle or trailer””. This Information is published on the Department’s website at the following web addresses:"http://www.dft.gov.uk/162259/162469/221412/221549/227755/contributoryfactorstoroadacc1802""http://www.dft.gov.uk/172974/173025/221412/221549/227755/227760/RCGBcotribfacactualfigsrev.xls"

Secondary information