47. Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what study he has made, in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police, of the Terrell Plan for Road Safety, of which he has a copy, and with what result.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Dick Taverne)A study of the plan carried out by the Commissioner of Police suggests that the proposals would give rise to substantial difficulties for the enforcement authorities.
Mr. CookeDoes not the Under-Secretary agree that this plan is worth study- 2466 ing, and would not the police agree that it would lead to a reduction in casualties in the London area if the plan were put into effect?
§ Mr. TaverneOf course, the main decision on the plan must come from the Ministry of Transport. The Home Office is concerned only with the enforcement side of it. It is right to say that the police see difficulties about enforcement, about the anomalies between cases where there is accident and where there is not, between duplication of offences and also between the automatic disqualification cases and the difficulties that in some cases it might be hard to convict.