HC Deb 26 March 1958 vol 585 cc406-7
25. Sir I. Fraser

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in how many night road accidents in the past twelve months the presence of unlighted vehicles on the road has been a contributory factor; and whether he is satisfied with the present regulations and their observance.

Mr. Nugent

Some 890 accidents involving personal injury in Great Britain in 1957 were attributed by the police wholly or partly to the absence of front or rear lights on one of the vehicles concerned. I am satisfied that the standards prescribed for the lighting of vehicles are adequate, but I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the opportunity he has given me for emphasising the danger inherent in poor observance.

Sir I. Fraser

May I draw my hon. Friend's attention to the last line of the Question, which asks whether the Minister is satisfied with the observance of the regulations?

Mr. Nugent

Yes. Broadly, I think they are carried out as well as they can be.

Mr. Gresham Cooke

Will my hon. Friend look into the point that there are a number of vehicles running about the roads today which are not fulfilling the regulations laid down by Parliament a few years ago that they should carry two effective reflectors at the rear, in that the reflectors have been dislodged, displaced or lost? Will he ask his right hon. Friend the Home Secretary whether the police might look into this a little more closely?

Mr. Nugent

I will call the attention of my right hon. Friend to the point, but without specific instances it is difficult to follow up such a general thought.

Mr. Isaacs

While he is looking into the question of lights on vehicles, will the Minister give attention to the present-day stop and direction lights, which on a number of vehicles are almost like headlights and can be blinding?

Mr. Nugent

I agree that many of them are not entirely satisfactory. They will gradually become right as the new standards of manufacture come into operation.