AQW 29235/17-22 Written question to the Minister for Infrastructure
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for her assessment of current road safety standards in light of the MOT backlog.
Asked by Andrew Muir MLA on 3 February 2022
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 3 February 2022
- Answer due by
- 18 February 2022
- Answered
- 14 February 202211 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for Infrastructure
- Priority question
- No
Answer
As Minister for Infrastructure part of my responsibility is promoting and improving road safety. This is a responsibility I take very seriously.
The Driver Vehicle Agency (DVA) will continue to monitor vehicle test pass rates through its published quarterly statistics. In addition, Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch annually produce a monitoring report on the current Road Safety Strategy using the most up to date data produced by PSNI. Included within the report is information on the causation of road traffic collisions. Regrettably, PSNI data continues to show that over 95% of road casualties are due to human error. The majority of collisions are caused by carelessness/inattention, driving at excessive speed or being impaired through alcohol/drugs.
As part of the Biennial MOT Call for Evidence, analysis has been undertaken to look at collisions which were caused by vehicle defects. The table below shows the number of casualties due to vehicle defects assigned by severity for the period 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2019.The table shows road traffic casualties for 2015 – 2019 and those caused by vehicles defects are in column 3 (and the proportion of overall casualties, in column 5).
Road traffic casualties by severity of injury – vehicle defects vs other causation factors 2015-2019
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Casualties | Total | Vehicle Defects | Other | % Vehicle Defects |
| Killed | 316 | 5 | 311 | 1.6% |
| Seriously injured | 3,821 | 53 | 3,768 | 1.4% |
| Slightly injured | 41,967 | 454 | 41,513 | 1.1% |
| Total | 46,104 | 512 | 45,592 | 1.1% |
The number of casualties with vehicle defects noted as a causation are low and that should not infer any indication of whether the vehicle was due an MOT or how recently the vehicle may have been through an MOT.
In addition, PSNI Statisticians have confirmed there were 33 fatal collisions between January 2020 and July 2020 and vehicle defect has not featured in either the primary or contributory causation factors for any of these 33 collisions.
Public consultation on the proposed content of the new Road Safety Strategy for Northern Ireland to 2030 was held between 15 November 2021 and 10 January 2022 (https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/consultations/infrastructure/consultation-document-road-safety-strategy2021.pdf)
The consultation document proposed three strategic outcomes that the new strategy will seek to achieve, one of which is Safe Vehicles, which recognises the positive contribution to road safety that well-maintained vehicles can bring in terms of reduced risk of collisions and harm to all road users.
Road safety remains a priority for me and I would remind drivers and riders that, regardless of the frequency of MOT testing, the statutory responsibility to ensure that a vehicle is roadworthy rests with the owner of the vehicle at all times.