§ 43. Mr. Usborneasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what information he has to show in how many of the road accidents in the United Kingdom, in each of the last five years, in which children were involved, the child was running at the time of the accident.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI regret that I cannot supply the hon. Member with the precise information that he requires, but he will find in "Road Accidents, 1951," and "Road Accidents, 1952"—Tables 30 and 32—a great deal of detailed information about accidents to children.
§ Mr. UsborneWould the Minister agree that when children run across the road there is a greater likelihood of an accident than if they walk very slowly across it? Is he aware of that fact, and does he think that sufficient emphasis is being given to it?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThat is perfectly true. I would again commend to the House the wonderful achievement in Islington, where no child has been killed during the last two years, largely through local leadership and initiative.
§ Mr. UsborneMay that not be because they teach the schoolchildren in Islington that it is wrong ever to run across the road?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydWhatever they teach them, it is effective.
§ Mr. PageIs the Minister aware that the suggestion that it is fair game to shoot a bird on the wing is understating the obligations of the motorist, and that the motorist should expect to encounter, and be prepared to avoid, not only the impetuous child but the hesitant old lady?
§ Mr. UsborneIn view of the suggestion that birds may be shot on the wing, is the right hon. Gentleman aware that every year a mother mallard, with her chicks, waddles so slowly across the roads in London that she is never hurt?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. If we had a Minister of Natural History, that might be an appropriate question for him.