Roads: Accidents
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his most recent estimate is of the cost to the public purse of a (a) fatality, (b) serious injury and (c) slight injury caused by a road accident. [14825]
Mike Penning: The information requested can be found in Table 2a in article 2 in Reported Road Casualties Great Britain: 2008 Annual Report, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House. Estimates using 2009 data will be published on 23 September 2010 in Reported Road Casualties Great Britain: 2009 Annual Report.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has commissioned recent research into the likely effects on the number of people (a) killed, (b) seriously injured and (c) slightly injured in road accidents of changes in the level of expenditure on road safety measures. [14827]
Mike Penning: The Department for Transport has not commissioned specific recent research. However the STATS19 collision and casualty data received by the Department are routinely monitored to identify any emerging trends, which in turn is used to inform policy decision making.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) children and (b) adults were (i) killed, (ii) seriously injured and (iii) slightly injured in road accidents in each of the last five years. [14828]
Mike Penning: The information requested is shown in the following table.
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13 Sep 2010 : Column 696W
A417: Accidents
Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to the public purse of emergency services attending incidents called out at and in the vicinity of the A417 between Nettleton Down and Gloucester was in the last 12 months. [13397]
Mike Penning: No estimate of the cost is held by the Department for Transport. Highways Agency traffic officers are not classed as an emergency service, their role is to manage the traffic on motorways and key trunk ‘A’ roads in England, where they perform a number of control room and on-road functions.
Specifically the role of the Traffic Officer Service involves:
managing incidents, except where there is loss of life, injury or potential criminal activity;
setting signs and signals and answering emergency roadside telephones;
arranging the removal of damaged or broken down/abandoned vehicles;
removing debris and other obstructions from the carriageway.
Speed Limits
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance he has provided to local authorities on the introduction of zonal 20 mph schemes in residential areas; and if he will make a statement. [14812]
Mike Penning: Guidance on setting local speed limits, including that for 20 mile per hour zones is contained in Department for Transport Circular 01/2006: Setting Local Speed Limits published in August 2006 and Traffic
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Advisory Leaflet 9/99: 20mph Speed Limits and Zones published in June 1999. Copies of both documents are available in the House.
Speed Limits: Fines
Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will bring forward proposals for the level of speeding fines to be calculated in relation to the wealth of the driver and the speed recorded. [13429]
Mike Penning: There are no plans to introduce a system of speeding fines calculated in relation to the wealth of drivers. Nor are there plans to introduce a penalty system with increased fines for those drivers exceeding the speed limit by a significant amount.
