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Road Transport Topics in Parliament
Page 90
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By Our Special Parliamentary Correspondent
HOURS REGULATIONS INDIRECTLY A DANGER.
IN the House of Lords last week, the Earl . of Mansfield raised the subject of collisions with stationary vehicles on the road at night. He said he did not wish to attack the drivers of commer. cial vehicles in any way.
His attention had been called to the subject as the result. of a number of recent fatal accidents which involved the loss of eight Jives. Each was due to a car or motorcycle colliding, after dark, with a large vehicle stationary by the roadside.
He thought it probable that most of these accidents had been caused by inadequate lighting at the rear of the stationary vehicle, and added that many heavy lorries were still lighted with oil lamps.
Section 50 of the Road Traffic Act, 1930,made it ,,,an offence to leave a vehicle in such a way as to be a danger to other rciad users, but his information was that this section was
largely a dead letter. Heavy-transport drivers Were compelled by statute to rest every five and a half hours, and it was often impossible for them to find a place off the road where they could park their vehicles. Consequently they were obliged to remain, more or less, on the highway, blocking a portion of it and thereby constituting themselves a considerable danger to other 'road users.
TWO PRACTICAL SAFETY SUGGESTIONS.
CONTINUING, Lord Mansfield said ‘....the attention of the Minister of Transport had been drawn to this in the past, but he was not aware of anything having yet been done. He wished to know if any steps were contemplated in the near future.
He made two suggestions, The first was that when main roads were being reconstructed or new roads being built, suitable bays should be provided at fairly frequent intervals.
The second was that a reflector of a different colour and shape from any now in use might be made obligatory for all heavy lorries operating after dark. It might be a, blue cross or triangle of about a foot or 15 ins, in size, so that any person driving behind the vehicle would recognize at once that there was in front of him a lorry stationary at the side of the road.
STATIONARY LORRY ACCIDENTS RARE.
D EPLYING for the Government, the Earl of Erne pointed out that the House and the country as a whole were awaiting with the greatest interest the report of the Lords accident committee. Whilst accidents of the type referred to by Lord Mansfield were often of a serious character and attracted public attention, they • were not so numerous as was freely sup548
posed. That, however, was no reasoa why every practicable step should not be taken to prevent them.
Although Lord Mansfield had inferred that the law relating to stationary vehicles causing danger was, a dead letter, there were something like 1,700 convictions in the year 1937 for that offence. In October, 1938, regulations Caine into operation which would indirectly affect the rear lighting of all new motor vehicles and would apply to all vehicles on and after October 1941.
ILLUMINATED NUMBER READABLE AT 60 FT.
THE previous regulations merely required that number plates should be "easily distinguishable" without specifying any distance, but the new regulations required the letters and figures to be easily distinguishable from 75 ft. in daylight and 60 ft. at night. The effect of these regulations should be to improve visibility at night and to reduce the number of accidents due to collisions with stationary vehicles,
Various suggestions had been made, which the Minister was considering. One was that a second rear light should be fixed on the vehicle and separately wired. Another was the carrying of a reflector as well as a light. That bore closely on the suggestion which Lord Mansfield had made. It was in the same category as experiments that were going on now and were being closely watched by the Ministery. The suggestion that " draw-ins " or " lay-bys " should be provided at intervals on the roads was also under consideration, The Minister himself was considering the various suggestions made. Evidence had been given before the Lords accident committee on the subject, and he could not anticipate what their recommendations would be.
RAILWAY DESTRUCTION OF CANAL TRANSPORT.
IN the House of Commons Mr. Burgin informed Mr. A. Herbert that, according to the report of the Royal Commission on Canals, 1909, the mileage of canals and inland navigations in use at that period in the United Kingdom amounted to 4,670. Comparable figures at the present time were not readily available.
Mr. Westwood asked whether in view of the attitude of the railways, the Minister would set up another Coomission of Inquiry into the way in which this means for transport was being destroyed by the railways. To this Mr. Burgin said he thought he would achieve his purpose without a Royal Commission. DERELICT NOW BUT NEEDED IN EMERGENCY.
AQUESTION was asked by Mr. Herbert • as ti, whether the inland waterway from the SeVern to the Thames, by the Kennet and -Avon route, was nownavigable .and was informed that this length of canal had been little used of late years.
The Minister added that he had the question of canals, and their use in times of emergency, constantly under his observation. He did not think that legislation would be necessary.
130 MILES OF DUAL CARRIAGEWAYS.
I •
T was officially stated th.at the mileage of trunk roads provided with dual carriageways on April 1, 1938, was 27.5. Schemes are in various stages of preparation and progress for a further 130 miles of this type of layout, and a substantial portion. of the work should be completed during the next 12 months.
P.S.Y. LICENCE FEES TO BE REDUCED. '
REPLYING to Sir Arnold Grindley, who asked whether, as a. result of the review recently undertaken of the fees payable for licences for pasSenger road services, he was now able to announce any alterations, Mr.. Burgin said he was about to make regulations reducing the fee for a public:service vehicle licence from £3 a year to £2.
FOREIGN COMPETITION ANXIETY. • I N view of the new proposals for increasing imports of cheap German vehicles into this country, Sir G. -Fox wished to know whetherthe President of the Board of Trade was satisfied that the provisions in the Finance Act' were sufficient to enable the British industry to obtain additional protection against such competition without delay, if the need arose.
Mr. Cross, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, answered that the President's attention had been drawn to a newspaper report of the proposals, and the answer was in the affirmative.
SINGLE-TYRE WEIGHING MACHINES NOT DANGEROUS.
I T was submitted by Mr. Robert Taylor that the practice of weighing vehicles with twin tyres, on machines that could take only one tyre at a time, was dangerous. He asked what steps the Minister proposed to take do overcome the difficulty operators were experiencing with regard to weighing vehicles as laid down under the Act.
Captain Austin Hudson replied that he was aware of the complaint to which the Member referred, but not of the element of danger. He was advised that the load on a tyre when so weighed was less severe than might be imposed under running conditions.