PQs 21st – 24th May

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information she has available on the number of road traffic (a) violations and (b) accidents in which a driver has consumed alcohol below the legal limit. [107671]

Mike Penning: Information about the quantity of alcohol in the blood of reported road accident fatalities aged 16 or over, who die within 12 hours of a road accident in Great Britain, is collected by the Department, from Coroners in England and Wales and Procurators Fiscal in Scotland. It is then matched with the data on the circumstances of the accidents from the STATS 19 police accident reporting form.

The Department is also separately supplied with data (so far by 40, out of the 43, police forces in England and Wales) on the results of roadside breath alcohol screening tests, administered by police, using recently introduced digital recording equipment. The equipment is able to record and report the specific quantity of any alcohol present in a persons system at the roadside, the reason for the test (such as a road traffic collision or a moving traffic offence), the age and gender of the person being tested and the date and time it was carried out.

The Department publishes statistics based on these data sources on its website, at the following links:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/releases/road-accidents-and-safety-annual-report-2010/

http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics?orderby=title&post_type =table&s=ras51

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions there were for the (a) purchase and (b) sale of fraudulent drivers’ licences online in each of the last five years. [107746]

Mr Blunt: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Other than where specified in a statute, centrally held information does not include all the circumstances of each case. It is not possible to identify from information held on the Ministry of Justice Court Proceedings Database those specific cases where a fraudulent drivers’ licence has been purchased or sold or whether or not this offence occurred online.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent assessment she has made of the numbers of fraudulent drivers’ licences sold online. [107747]

Mike Penning: The Department for Transport has not carried out any assessment about the number of fraudulent driving licences that have been sold online.

Intelligence gathered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) indicates that websites which claim to provide genuine driving licences are actually scams. Money is taken from members of the public but no driving licence is produced. Intelligence about websites that appear to be offering driving licences for sale is passed to the police to allow the appropriate action to be taken. The police service is the only organisation within the UK able to combat internet based criminality.

Genuine DVLA issued driving licences employ sophisticated physical security features making them among the most secure documents in the world. The DVLA also provides information to stakeholders on various security features that should be present in genuine driving licences to help them identify any false licences that may be produced. The DVLA works closely with other Government Departments and enforcement agencies to tackle identity crime.

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport with reference to the Strategic Road Safety Framework, when her Department plans to publish revised guidance to local authorities on speed limits in urban areas. [108259]

Mike Penning: We plan to revise and reissue the guidance on speed limits, with the aim of increasing flexibility for local authorities, later this year. We propose to start consultation on the draft in the next few weeks.

The intention to revise the guidance, and to provide a speed limit appraisal tool to help local authorities to assess the full costs and benefits of any proposed schemes, was announced in the Strategic Framework for Road Safety (May 2011), paragraph 3.26. The guidance will cover local speed limits in both urban and rural areas. The Tool, which is under development, will be launched with the revised guidance later this year.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department plans to take to reduce the number of people driving without insurance. [108983]

Mike Penning: The steps the Department is taking to reduce uninsured driving include:

(a) Enforcing action against offenders who keep a vehicle without insurance, known as the continuous insurance enforcement scheme (CIE). This has been enforced since last June;

(b) Tackling fraud by working with the insurance industry to allow them access to DVLA driver details on penalty points and disqualifications.

The Government is also concerned that the rising cost of insurance may tempt motorists to drive while uninsured and is working closely with the insurance industry on measures which will help reduce premiums. The Prime Minister held a summit with industry leaders in February and there was a follow up summit in May.

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department is taking to ensure drivers with visual problems report these to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. [108709]

Mike Penning: Information about the standard of vision for safe driving is included in the Highway Code and driver licensing forms and leaflets. Regular headline prompts about eyesight and driving appear on the driving related pages of DirectGov.

The law requires drivers to declare if eyesight problems are present. Failure to notify, or making a false declaration to DVLA, is an offence and can invalidate motor insurance.

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps her Department is taking to publicise the risks involved in driving with poor eyesight. [108710]

Mike Penning: Information about the standard of vision for safe driving is included in the Highway Code and driver licensing forms and leaflets. Regular headline prompts about eyesight and driving appear on the driving related pages of DirectGov.

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) proportionality of extending anti-tampering measures to all powered two-wheeled vehicles. [109249]

Mike Penning: The Department’s impact assessment could not find evidence to support anti-tampering measures on unrestricted motorcycles and on this basis the Government has opposed proposals to extend anti-tampering measures to unrestricted motorcycles.

However, a Commission sponsored study is underway which may provide evidence on the scale of tampering, its influence on accidents in the EU, and the effectiveness of new regulations. The Department will consider the results of this study when they are published.

Mr Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what her Department’s most recent estimate is of the number of cars without insurance. [108841]

Mike Penning: The insurance industry estimate about 1.2 million vehicles are not insured. For comparison, the industry estimate in 2005 was 2 million.

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in how many road traffic accidents previously unreported visual problems have been found to be a contributing factor. [108711]

Mike Penning: The DFT publication “Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain: annual report 2010” shows the number and proportion of reported personal injury road accidents which had “Uncorrected, defective eyesight” recorded as a contributory factor, in Great Britain in 2010. The relevant statistics can be found using the following link:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/statistics/tables/ras50001/

Note that contributory factors are reported only for injury road accidents where a police officer attended the scene and reported at least one contributory factor. These factors are largely subjective, reflecting the attending officer’s opinion at the time of reporting. It is recognised that subsequent inquires could lead to the reporting officer changing their opinion.

To ask her Majesty’s Government whether they are taking action to ensure that United Kingdom representatives at the European Commission Expert Group relating to the intelligent transport systems directive have advice and technical briefing from industry and professional organisations, and if so how.

Earl Attlee: Work to develop specifications for the six priority action areas, identified in the European Union’s intelligent transport system directive, is now under way through expert groups established by the European Commission. This Department for Transport is engaging with a wide range of interested parties on each of the priority areas to ensure its representatives on the expert groups secure the best interests of the United Kingdom.

Mr Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the number of road traffic accidents that involved (a) cyclists, (b) motorcycles and (c) pedestrians in the London borough of Bexley in each of the last five years. [107650]

Mike Penning: The information requested is given in the following table:

The number of reported personal injury road accidents in London borough of Bexley: 2005-10
	Number of accidents (1) involving
	(a) Cyclists	(b) Motorcycles	(c) Pedestrians
2006	30	79	99
2007	34	75	97
2008	35	90	86
2009	35	74	81
2010	54	62	84