HC Deb 22 July 1942 vol 382 cc14-5
14 and 15. Mr. William Brown

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport (1) whether, in view of the fact that excessive motor speed is the prime cause of the continued high rate of road accidents, he will take action in collaboration with the Minister of Information to impress upon motorists the great danger involved in driving at a high speed; and will he seek the cooperation of the British Broadcasting Corporation in making those facts known; and

(2) whether, in view of the continued high rate of road accidents among children, many of whom are evacuated to rural areas, he will make an Order for a speed limit of 15 miles per hour through all villages?

Mr. Noel-Baker

It would not be practicable to introduce a speed limit of 15 miles per hour in villages without also applying it to built-up areas. Such a measure, if it were observed, would seriously slow up the movement of road traffic, most of which is now essential to the war effort. My Department is, however, carrying on sustained propaganda to impress upon drivers of motor-vehicles the need to drive with care, and to have special regard for children. In this work they have acted in close collaboration with the Ministry of Information and have received the generous assistance of the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Press. Many local education authorities have helped by giving road safety instruction to children in schools. I hope that these measures may prove more efficacious than the introduction of restrictions which, at the present time, it would be difficult to enforce.

Sir Granville Gibson

Is it not a fact that motorists are driving with care, and is that not proved by the great reduction in accidents in the past year?

Mr. Noel-Baker

I regret to say that the accident rate relative to the number of vehicles on the road is very much too high, and motorists ought to take very much more care than they do.

Mr. Sorensen

Is not the reduction really due to the smaller number of cars on the road?

Mr. Noel-Baker

That is not the only thing, but it is a very important factor.

20. Mr. Sorensen

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport how many persons have been killed and how many injured in road accidents involving, respectively, tram-cars, trolley-omnibuses and motor-omnibuses per 1,000,000 passenger miles run by the London Passenger Transport

FATAL ACCIDENTS.
— Persons. Per 100,000 Car Miles. Per 1,000,000 Passengers carried.
Central Buses … … … 93 .05 .06
Country Buses … … … 22 .07 .11
Coaches … … … 9 .05 .31
Trams … … … 16 .05 .08
Trolley Buses … … … 57 .08 .09
TOTAL … … … 197 .06 .08
NON-FATAL ACCIDENTS.
Central Buses … … … 6,204 3.6 4.3
Country Buses … … … 1,118 3.6 5.6
Coaches … … … 428 2.3 14.6
Trams … … … 1,649 5.2 7.8
Trolley Buses … … … 4,072 5.9 6.2
TOTAL … … … 13,471 4.2 5.3