§ MAJOR MCMICKING (Kirkcudbrightshire)To ask the Secretary for Scotland whether his attention has been 11 drawn to the number of fatal accidents that have occurred within the last few years to men in charge of steam threshing mills and traction engines on highways in Scotland; whether he is aware that these accidents are frequently due to the provisions of the Locomotives (Scotland) Acts, 1865 and 1878, requiring one of the men to accompany the locomotive on foot, and to the men's inability to comply with this regulation when travelling long distances, whereby they are tempted to ride on the draw bars of the engine; and whether, in view of the loss of life that has taken place, and of the fact that motors driven at high speed are exempt from the above regulation, he will consider the advisability of introducing legislation to amend the said Acts in the direction of allowing the men to sit at the rear of the last wagon.
(Answered by Mr. Sinclair.) I shall be glad to consider any information regarding these accidents. The Locomotives Act of 1898, following the Report of the Traction Engines Select Committee of 1896, allowed the man accompanying the locomotive to do so in such a manner as to be able to give assistance to any person with horses or carriages, and thus freed him from the requirements to walk on foot. This provision, which at present only applies to England and Wales, might properly, when a suitable opportunity occurs, be extended to Scotland, and I shall keep the matter in view.