HC Deb 13 May 1964 vol 695 cc406-7
10. Mr. J. Harvey

asked the Minister of Transport what regulations made by him apply to the posting of warning notices in connection with both major and minor road works.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Vice-Admiral John Hughes Hallett)

The current requirements are contained in, first, the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions, 1957, as amended, and, secondly, two Traffic Safety Codes for Road Works and other Emergencies issued in 1962. These Codes give detailed guidance on the use and removal of prescribed signs, and compliance with them is recommended as a condition of road works contracts.

Later this year new Regulations will prescribe the new signs recommended in the Worboys Report for road works, supplemented by a Manual which will include a revised Traffic Safety Code

Mr. Harvey

Is my hon. and gallant Friend aware that there is an increasing tendency for warning notices to be situated in the middle of the holes that they warn motorists about and therefore they become obituary notices rather than warning notices? Will he draw the attention of contractors to the vital necessity of giving due warning of the road works in which they are engaged?

Vice-Admiral Hughes Hallett

I agree that there is need for more care in dealing with this matter. We have prescribed adequate signs and given repeated guidance about their use, but we shall take the opportunity of drawing attention to the subject again when the new Regulations and Manual appear.

Sir L. Ropner

Is my hon. and gallant Friend aware that when notices ordering no passing are placed on roads there seldom seems to be a limit to the length of road to which the sign applies? It is left to motorists to guess, and some guess very quickly that it is safe to pass after being warned not to do so.

Vice-Admiral Hughes Hallett

I recognise that that is a fault to be found in certain stretches of road. It is only fair to say, however, that there are a good many places where one finds the notice displayed again at the end of the narrow part of the route. However, this, too, is a matter to which we draw the attention of the authorities at intervals.