---

Roads: Accidents

Answer

The estimated number of (a) adults and (b) children who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in reported drink drive accidents in each of the last three years with data available is shown in the following table:

Estimated¹ (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured drink drive casualties: GB 2005-07
	2005	2006	2007
(i) Killed
(a) Adult²	550	550	410
(b) Child³	10	10	0
All ages4	550	560	410
(ii) Seriously injured
(a) Adult²	1,950	1,860	1,700
(b) Child³	90	70	70
All ages4	2,090	1,970	1,760
¹Estimates are based on breath test and coroners' data. They are rounded to the nearest 10 so columns may not add up to their total. ²Aged 16+ years. ³Aged 0-15 years. 4Includes cases where age was not recorded.

The number of (a) adults and (b) children who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in road accidents where "driver impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)" was reported as a contributory factor in each of the last three years with data available, and the number where a driver also had "impaired by alcohol" reported as a contributory factor, are shown in the following table:

Reported (a) adult and (b) child road casualties who were (i) killed and (ii) seriously injured in road accidents where "impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)" and "impaired by alcohol" were reported as contributory factors¹: GB 2006-08
Contributory factor	Year of accident
	2006	2007	2008
Impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)
(i) Killed
(a) Adult²	62	70	57
(b) Child³	2	1	3
All ages4	64	71	60
(ii) Seriously injured
(a) Adult²	246	247	265
(b) Child³	9	13	11
All ages4	262	261	280
Driver "impaired by drugs (illicit or medicinal)" and "impaired by alcohol"
(i) Killed
(a) Adult²	27	34	27
(b) Child³	0	0	2
All ages4	27	34	29
(ii) Seriously injured
(a) Adult²	94	121	121
(b) Child³	2	7	9
All ages4	99	129	132
¹ Only includes accidents where a police officer attended the scene and reported a contributory factor.
² Aged 16+ years.
³ Aged 0-15 years.
4 Includes cases where age was not recorded.

Contributory factors reflect the police officer's opinion at the time of reporting, and where some factors may have contributed to the cause of an accident it may be difficult for a police officer attending the scene after the accident to identify them, so these factors may be under-reported. Not all reported road accidents are included in the contributory factor analysis, only those where a police officer attended the scene and at least one contributory factor was reported.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

504 c423-4W; 311866

Session

2009-10

Subjects

Accidents Roads

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk