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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Dec 1985

Vol. 362 No. 5

Written Answers. - Vehicle Registration Figures.

43.

asked the Minister for the Environment the number of motor car users registered for the year 1984 including trucks and other heavy vehicles; and the number of motor cycle users registered for the same year.

Statistics are not available relating to the numbers of users of mechanically propelled vehicles as distinct from the numbers of such vehicles. The annual census of vehicles relates to the numbers of vehicles under current licence at 30 September each year. The following table set out the position in respect of all classes of vehicles, at 30 September 1984.

Class

Number

Private cars

711,098

School buses

1,381

Motor cycles

26,305

Goods vehicles

84,103

Mobile machines and fork lift trucks

774

Hearses

535

Agricultural tractors

65,843

General Haulage tractors

830

Excavators, trench diggers etc.

1,281

Small dumpers

357

Off-road dumpers

81

Small public service vehicles

4,329

Large public service vehicles

3,107

Exempt vehicles

6,085

Total

906,109

44.

asked the Minister for the Environment if any statistics are held by his Department of the number of pedal cyclists for the year 1984; and, if not, if the number of pedal cyclist users can be estimated by reference to the imports of bicycles.

45.

asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the statistics features in Road Accident Facts, 1984, produced by An Foras Forbartha, of 1,566 pedestrian casualties; 742 pedal cycle user casualties; 965 motor cycle user casualties and 4,792 car user casualties; if he has asked that percentages will be based on not only the combined total of all these various forms of transport, but also based on the best estimates available as to the numbers of cars on the road, bicycles, motor cycles and pedestrians; if he will agree that percentages based purely on total number of accidents do not give the real picture.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 45 together. I am aware of the statistics quoted by the Deputy which were derived from Table 12 of the Foras Forbartha report referred to by him. The table in question is designed to provide a breakdown of road casualties (killed and injured) by road user type, both in terms of numbers involved and as a percentage of total casualties. Thus, for example, the table shows that 55.2 per cent of all road casualties in 1984 were users of cars. The information provided in this table forms only a small part of a comprehensive analysis of road accidents carried out each year by An Foras and published annually by them in the report Road Accident Facts.

The nature and extent of this analysis and the subsequent publication of the results are dependent on the availability of relevant data in the first instance and on the accuracy of such data. I understand that it would not be possible to express road casualties, classified by road user type, as a percentage of the total number of users of the mode of travel concerned. A breakdown by vehicle type of the number of motor vehicles currently licensed is available (through the annual census of motor vehicles) but comparable information is not available for non-motorised travel.

In this connection, it is not possible to provide any meaningful estimates of the total number of pedestrians or other forms of non-motorised travel. Neither my Department nor An Foras have access to information which would be sufficient to provide a reliable estimate of the number of pedal cycles in use in any particular year.

However, arising from their ongoing research into road accidents, An Foras comment from time to time in Road Accident Facts report on various aspects of the road accident problem, including the relative risk of accident as between one mode of travel and another, relative risks for different age groups, etc. For example, reports in recent years have pointed to the fatal accident rate for motor cyclists, at four to five per 1,000 licensed motor cycles, as being four times that for cars. In the case of pedal cyclists the 12-15 age group is at highest risk; where pedestrians are concerned it is four-six years olds who are at greatest risk.

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