To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents have involved heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) (a) with mechanical defects, (b) that are overweight and (c) where drivers’ hours have been exceeded in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (i) region where the accident took place, (ii) the HGV’s country of origin and (iii) whether the HGV was left or right hand drive. (242894)

The numbers of reported personal injury road accidents which involved a heavy goods vehicle with at least one vehicle defect recorded as a contributory factor are given in the table, broken down by (i) region and (ii) left or right hand drive.

Vehicle defect contributory factors include:

Tyres illegal, defective or under inflated

Defective lights or indicators

Defective brakes

Defective steering or suspension

Defective or missing mirrors

Overloaded or poorly loaded vehicle or trailer

Information on drivers’ working hours and the country of origin of heavy goods vehicles which are involved in road accidents are not collected. Information on contributory factors is not available before 2005.