Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of traffic accidents caused by horses and ponies straying onto the highway.
The information requested is not held by the Department.
The Department only collects information on ridden horses on the pubic highway that are involved in personal injury road accidents. This information is published in Table RAS30016 in annual report entitled "Reported road casualties in Great Britain: 2013". This report has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and is available online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-annual-report-2013 and the attached table is at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ras30-reported-casualties-in-road-accidents#table-ras30016
Further statistics are available on animals in the carriageway which contribute in injury accident but it is not possible to identify what type of animal was involved. This information is also published in Table RAS50001 also attached and available online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/ras50-contributory-factors#table-ras50001