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4 Jun 2007 : Column 104W—continued
Driving Tests
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many driving tests for the car were taken in each year since 1997. [139673]
Dr. Ladyman: The Driving Standards Agency records the tests conducted figure by financial year, and only has records from 1999-2000 onwards. The number of car driving tests conducted per year is shown as follows.
| Practical tests conducted | |
| Number | |
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the overall pass rate was for those taking car driving tests in each year since 1997. [139679]
Dr. Ladyman: The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) measures the car driving test pass rate by financial year, and only has records from 1999-2000 onwards. The pass rate percentage by year is shown as follows.
| Pass rate (percentage) | |
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many people passed their car driving test at the (a) first, (b) second, (c) third, (d) fourth and (e) fifth attempt in each year since 1997, broken down by (i) age and (ii) sex. [139680]
Dr. Ladyman: The Driving Standards Agency did not record number of driving test attempts before April 2004, and determining the amount of attempts by age could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
The passes by attempt and gender for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 are shown as follows.
| Passes | |
Driving: Licensing
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many drivers are licensed to drive motor vehicles on public roads in Great Britain. [139628]
Dr. Ladyman: On 8 May 2007 there were 42,289,023 drivers licensed to drive motor vehicles on public roads in Great Britain.
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many (a) provisional, (b) full and (c) repeat provisional driving licences were issued in each year since 1997. [139675]
Dr. Ladyman: See following table for the total number of licences issued between 1997 and 2006.
| Total | |
The breakdown of these figures into full and provisional licences is not available. We do not have figures for the numbers of repeat provisional driving licences.
Great Western Trains
Mrs. James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action First Great Western is taking to improve its (a) 143, (b) 150, (c) 153 and (d) 158 class diesel multiple units. [139252]
Mr. Tom Harris: The First Great Western (FGW) franchise agreement commits FGW to a number of reliability modifications to these classes of diesel multiple units, from an initial interior refresh and a further interior refresh later in the franchise, to a new external livery and to the fitting of CCTV.
Heathrow Airport
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 16 May 2006, Official Report, column 750-51W, on Heathrow Airport, what estimate his Department has made of the likely increase in the number of private motor vehicles travelling to and from Heathrow Airport which would result from an additional 61 million passengers per year; and if he will make a statement. [139546]
Gillian Merron: The Government are currently assessing all the impacts associated with a potential third runway at Heathrow airport, including the impacts on local roads. We will report the findings as part of the Heathrow consultation later this year.
Lorries: Tachographs
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the (a) introduction of digital tachographs in heavy goods vehicles and (b) reliability of those instruments; and if he will make a statement. [139881]
Dr. Ladyman: Since digital tachographs became mandatory, from 1 May 2006, the Department for Transport and its agencies have received a number of queries about their introduction, most of which have been of a largely technical nature. There have been no reported problems about the reliability of the digital tachograph vehicle unit itself, although around 2 per cent. of the 304,784 tachograph "smart" cards issued as of 29 May 2007 by DVLA (the UK's card issuing authority) have had to be returned due to malfunctions.
M42: Lorries
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what (a) lessons have been learned and (b) conclusions have been reached on the trial ban on heavy goods vehicles overtaking on the M42; whether he is considering introducing such a ban on parts of the M18; and if he will make a statement. [139879]
Dr. Ladyman:
The 18-month experimental period of the trial preventing heavy goods vehicles from overtaking on part of the M42 in Warwickshire expires
in October this year. The Highways Agency has not yet completed an overall assessment of the results although initial indications are that there have been no disbenefits to heavy goods vehicles and some benefits to light vehicles. Further trials have begun at suitable locations on the A1 in Durham and the A14 in Northamptonshire. There are no current plans to introduce a similar restriction on the M18.
Motorcycles
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has had from motorcycle racing and motorcycle sports organisations on the Off Road Vehicles (Registration) Bill; and if he will make a statement. [139677]
Dr. Ladyman: This Department has received representations from motorcycle racing and motorcycle sports organisations on the Off Road Vehicles (Registration) Bill expressing reservations at the scope of the Bill.
Roads: Accidents
Mr. Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost to the public purse has been of (a) fatal road traffic accidents, (b) serious road traffic accidents and (c) minor road traffic accidents in each year since 1997. [139667]
Dr. Ladyman: The values used to estimate the benefits of the prevention of road accidents are set out in the "Highways Economic Note No. 1: 2005 Valuation of the Benefits of Prevention of Road Accidents and Casualties" which can be found on the DfT website at
Included within these values are the costs to public funds for medical, ambulance and police costs (emergency services). The estimated totals of such costs in each year since 1997 in Great Britain are set out in the following table.
| Estimated cost of emergency services | |||
| £ million | |||
| Fatal accidents | Serious accidents | Slight accidents | |
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