ROAD SAFETY (HILLINGDON) (Hansard, 24 November 1967)

§ Mr. John Ryan (Uxbridge)

I am grateful for this opportunity to raise in the House an issue which is regarded as very serious in my constituency. I make no apology for raising it, because, although it could be considered to be an extremely local issue, the problems it poses could be considered to be a microcosm of the much wider issue of transport policy, of the attempts by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport to reduce the number of road accidents, and of the factors that defy that attempt.

A very bizarre event took place this week. As I was thinking over some of the things I wanted to say in this debate, I was confronted, as were other hon. Members, by the lobbying of Parliament on the visit of the members of the Licensed Victuallers' Association and the attempt to discredit the very embryonic efforts of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport to introduce the breath-tester test. I have had three letters on this subject from people in my constituency, all from people who either own or manage public houses. One of these three letters referred to the "flood of letters" which I had no doubt received on this subject.

It is worth contemplating that what we are talking about today is the other side of the question of road accidents. It is not the sheer statistics of the reduction in the turnover of public houses or in sales of alcohol. It is the other side of the problem, the problem of people having their lives ended as a result of the actions of their well meaning, in some cases, fellow citizens who drive cars.

The problem of safety in Uxbridge Road, Hillingdon, has been of continual interest for a good number of years. The first correspondence on the subject dates from March, 1960. The problem is no nearer solution. In fact, recently it has become worse. This is a road which is, in some senses, an important road. It stretches from Shepherds Bush and goes through Acton, Ealing, Southall, part of 1725 Hayes, and through my own constituency. It is used by traffic which goes west along the A40. It presents the usual problem of a road which, when it was constructed, was not intended to carry the volume of traffic which it now carries. Attempts to defeat the problem have been the classic attempts of trying to reconcile the need of traffic to move quickly out of London on to the main arterial roads with the needs of the local inhabitants who now live along the road and, who, in some cases, lived along the road when the traffic conditions were quite different.

I shall not detain the House by retailing a long history of the correspondence, but I want to refer to a letter which was received by the Central Hillingdon Residents' Association on 11th January of last year from the Metropolitan Police. This was in response to a request by the Association to the police to institute a study of the traffic problem in this area. I now quote the reply from the Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police, to Mr. Chapman, the secretary of the association: The Commissioner has asked me to reply to your letter of 8th December and to assure you that the section of Uxbridge Road to which you refer receives the attention of local police, consistent with the many other commitments an their limited manpower. It is not felt, however, that driver behaviour on this stretch of road is any different from that shown on any other road of a similar nature. While the Commissioner regrets that he is unable to supply the information you require, you may he interested to know that in March, 1965, a speedmeter survey was carried out between Lees Road and Long Lane. The 85 percentile speed, i.e. the speed under which 85 per cent. of the vehicles recorded was travelling, for east—and west-bound vehicles, was 34 and 32 m.p.h. respectively. As with all roads of this nature, there is a tendency for vehicles to speed, but the survey does not show that it is excessive. I would make only three comments on this letter. First, it is extremely difficult for a residents' association to get a Ministry—the police, in this case—to study a problem which it puts up to the Ministry. The association was not primarily concerned with the small stretch of road at the junction of Lees Road and Long Lane, but with the much wider stretch of road back towards London, perhaps for another quarter of a mile at least.

1726 This is one of the difficulties which have bedevilled the situation. I do not doubt the authenticity of the survey carried out by the police, but it is widely disbelieved locally. I use this road a great deal, and I am sure that if my hon. Friend the Joint Parliamentary Secretary and I were to drive at the speed mentioned in the letter, 32 or 34 m.p.h. in the outside lane, we would be hooted at indignantly to make way for cars travelling at a much faster speed.

I should like to refer to the difficulty of the police with their very limited resources. I wonder whether my hon. Friend would comment on the different techniques which the police can use in different situations to avoid the use of manpower but giving a more accurate analysis of the nature of the problem.

The story unfolds from 11th January to 23rd January when a petition was presented to my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport by the Central Hillingdon Residents' Association signed by 2,000 residents living along this part of the road. The petition urged my right hon. Friend to institute an inquiry and to take whatever steps were necessary to prevent injuries and deaths along this section of the road. I should say that on this small section of the road out of London, no more than a mile or a mile and a quarter long, in the period between 1st March, 1965, and 31st December, 1966, no fewer than four pedestrians were killed, 14 were seriously injured and 45 were slightly injured. Also, of the four people killed, three were killed using a pedestrian crossing on this road, two in the middle of the day.

The residents' association came with that petition to my right hon. Friend on 23rd March and only a few weeks later, on Saturday, 4th April, one of my constituents was knocked down by a car in daylight on a pedestrian crossing and died that night in hospital as a consequence of his injuries. This means that five people were killed in a period of 18 months on that stretch of road.

The London Borough of Hillingdon, in which my constituency is situated, has a safety record which is neither better nor worse than most other boroughs in London. In a comparable period, 25 people were killed in Hillingdon in similar types of accident. But when one 1727 considers the whole network of the roads there, it is extremely difficult for me to grasp why nearly a quarter of the borough's accidents should occur on this narrow stretch of road. This is in distinction to the point made by the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, who said in his letter that this stretch of road seemed to be normal. If that were so, and if the accident figures over this narrow stretch of road were projected across the whole of the Metropolis, it would make our present slaughter on the roads look like nothing.

That was the position until 15th February, 1967, when the Minister wrote to Mr. Mann, of the residents' association, saying that the Ministry had asked the Greater London Council, which is the highway authority, to study the conditions for pedestrians. The letter added that the Minister would defer action till the results of the study were made known to her, particularly a study by the G.L.C. of the effect of traffic lights which had in the meantime been installed at the junction of Long Lane and Uxbridge Road.

After this, I put a Question to my hon. Friend and expressed dissatisfaction with this statement for a variety of reasons. My main reason was that I felt that the study could only be marginally relevant to the needs of pedestrians. It is difficult to understand these things without maps and graphs, which I am denied here, but the point is that the junction of Long Lane and Uxbridge Road is further west from the point where the accidents occur.

This means that the traffic lights there can have only a marginal effect on traffic proceeding fast from London towards the Oxford road, the A40, and would have no effect on traffic coming from the west into London, which would perhaps be halted at the traffic lights but would then have a free run along the stretch where the accidents are happening and people are being killed on the pedestrian crossings. If this is the point which the G.L.C. is studying, it seems to me to be only very marginally related to the real needs of the situation.

I am in some difficulty, also, regarding the actual nature of the study. There is a strong suspicion among the members of the residents' association that the study is far more concerned with the effect upon 1728 the speed at which cars and other vehicles are getting from Long Lane into the Uxbridge Road and then west or east than with the real needs of pedestrians. I hope that my hon. Friend will comment on the exact nature of the study which the G.L.C. is now pursuing.

I understand from my inquiries of the Ministry that the police have been requested by my right hon. Friend to make a study of traffic conditions along this stretch of road. I gather that this study has been completed and its results are now being examined at the Ministry. I do not expect my hon. Friend to disclose any of its evidence or draw conclusions from this study until he has had time to look at the G.L.C. study, but it would be of interest if he could explain the nature of the study which the police have made.

For instance, did it include a study of the parking situation along this stretch of road, a factor which many people feel is a contributory cause of accidents? There is parking on both sides, and, when vans load or unload, there is double parking, with the consequence that both motorists and pedestrians are unsighted. Along what stretch of road is the study being taken? There is a feeling in my constituency that the problems along this road are being studied in a fragmentary "itsy-bitsy" fashion rather than in a way which takes in the whole sweep of, perhaps, two miles of highway, as should be done if it is desired to establish a coherent idea of what the traffic pattern is and why accidents are occurring.

Can my hon. Friend say, also, whether the police are paying particular attention to the question of alcoholic drink as a factor in the problem? I do not suggest that it has not been possible to get from the Metropolitan Police statistics relating to the causes of the accidents, but it seems curious that there should be so many on what is a straight, wide and open road. This question is the more troubling as pedestrians are being knocked down on pedestrian crossings.

Before I sit down, I remind my hon. Friend of the nature of the representations—I am sure that he is aware of it—which have been made over the past seven years. The Central Hillingdon Residents' Association, which has been particularly anxious about traffic conditions on the Uxbridge Road, is a model 1729 of what a residents' association should be. It is entirely non-political in out-look, unlike some residents' associations which seem to have a life which starts about 10 months before borough elections and lasts only temporarily for three months thereafter, arising again in three years' time. This association is a genuine one which has a sustained and intelligent interest in the problems of its members and the community which it seeks to represent.

The members of the Central Hillingdon Residents' Association have been responsible, hard working and patient over the years. They have themselves conducted work and study on the causes of accidents. They have been non-hysterical in their approach. But their patience is running out. Like anyone else, they are fed up with what seems to them to be a "buck passing" situation in which they have the problem of dealing with the local authority, with the Greater London Council as highway authority, with the police and with the Ministry of Transport. They feel that they are making very little progress, yet the accidents are occurring and will occur unless there is action as opposed to letters and an interchange of correspondence, a great pile of which I have here with me.

They are practical people who understand that a solution will not be easy to find. There are great problems along roads like this in trying to reconcile the twin needs of drivers who want to get out of London quickly and the needs of pedestrians and people who live along the stretch of road itself. It may be that the solution will lie in some such device as a pedestrian subway or a bridge across the road, with access for prams and invalid cars. More likely, the search for a solution may well lead to lights, perhaps pedestrian-controlled lights, at the pedestrian crossing where people are being killed.

My constituents and the residents' association understand the Ministry's difficulties and that they must be practical and sensible in their attitude. But they have carried on a battle for seven years and are under pressure from some of their more militant members who would favour much more direct action—much more publicity-worthy and hotheaded action. They have suggested sit- 1730 ting down on the road, pushing prams on it and so on.

When politics is increasingly falling into disrepute and there is apathy among electors, we have a particular responsibility in the House to show people that when they take a responsible attitude, try to use the correct way of doing things, ask for factual information, and carefully and patiently expound their case we are responsive and sensitive to their needs. I urge the G.L.C. and the police to complete their studies and to take no action until my hon. Friend has satisfied himself that those studies are relevant to the whole problem. Then he should quickly implement a solution which will last and save life.

§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. John Morris)

I am glad that my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Ryan) has chosen to bring up the problem of road safety. This is a subject we can never hear too much of. This afternoon my hon. Friend has focused our attention on safety along one particular stretch of road. He said that the problem was a microcosm of safety problems generally. He has brought home to us that road safety is not just slogans and exhortations. It is far more than that. Every local problem must be studied and the right measures taken to deal with it. My hon. Friend has made several constructive suggestions in his speech about the very real problem in his constituency. I pay tribute to him for his pursuit of a solution. I sympathise with him. The case which he has made and the accident figures he has given show without any shadow of doubt that there are difficulties in Uxbridge Road. It is obvious that something must be done about this real problem.

Let me deal first with who is responsible for action. My hon. Friend paid tribute to his residents' association, which will be concerned to know where responsibility lies. When I say that it is not my Department's job to initiate—I emphasise "initiate"—proposals for the specific measures which my hon. Friend and his constituents want, I must make it quite clear that we are neither shirking our duties nor passing the buck to somebody else. The law makes it plain that installation of traffic signals 1731 or the provision of a pedestrian subway, for example, are measures which in the first instance are for the traffic authority or the highway authority respectively. In this case the Greater London Council is both traffic and highway authority. So it is up to it to put forward proposals which it considers will contribute to the safety of Uxbridge Road. Of course, my Department comes into this picture, but I shall deal with that point later.

My hon. Friend referred to a study which the G.L.C. have been conducting. This study does not deal in isolation with the effect of the traffic lights at Long Lane. I hope that that will relieve his mind. It covers the danger area which my hon. Friend has spoken about. I understand that the G.L.C.'s technical officers have now formulated tentative proposals for Uxbridge Road. I emphasise the word "tentative". The proposals have not yet been discussed with the police nor with the Borough of Hillingdon, and this will have to be done. They still have to be considered by the G.L.C. at council level.

I am sure that my hon. Friend will want to know what the G.L.C. has in mind. First, it is looking carefully at the possibility of providing traffic control signals at the Lees Road Junction, a point which my hon. Friend has pressed hard. He will be glad to know that the G.L.C. is looking seriously at it. It would have the advantage of controlling the flow of turning traffic and would reduce the speed of vehicles using the road. I am very much aware of the point my hon. Friend made about the present situation of the traffic lights. Any effect they may have on traffic flowing some distance from them must decrease with the distance.

Secondly, the G.L.C. is considering the closure of Nicholls Avenue and the gap in the central reservation opposite this road. I understand that drivers make U turns and right-hand turns at this point, and that this can sometimes be a dangerous procedure here. If these two measures which I have talked about were implemented, traffic to Nicholls Avenue would have to use the Lees Road junction, where journey movements would be signal controlled.

Thirdly, the possible resiting of the Lees Road zebra crossing is also being 1732 looked at. A new site some 80 yards to the west, with push button operation, and linked with the Lees Road traffic signals is a candidate.

Fourthly, I understand that the service road at New Broadway is being used as a short cut by traffic joining Uxbridge Road. The G.L.C. is considering whether any action is needed to prevent this. Fifthly, the G.L.C. is investigating whether it would be wise to recite the Charles Street zebra crossing further to the east near Heath Road, and to provide a stagger in the central reservation dividing the crossing. This would encourage pedestrians to use the crossing in two operations, one for each stream of traffic.

Sixthly, clearway regulations might be introduced and street parking, which is so frequently a source of danger, could be eliminated. This is a point specifically canvassed by my hon. Friend.

Seventhly, there may be a case for widening the central reservation at Denziloe Avenue so that drivers can make U turns and right-hand turns at the most suitable point in Uxbridge Road.

I must emphasise again that these proposals are still at the tentative stage. It is open to the G.L.C. to add to them, to revise them or to drop them. I know that in their present form they do not meet all the points made by my hon. Friend. They do not, for example, include provision of a pedestrian subway or a footbridge. I understand that there may be insufficient space, without land acquisition, to provide the necessary stairs or ramps for either of these. In addition, fencing would be needed to make pedestrians use such facilities and not cross the road nearby. I understand that fencing could not, however, be installed completely at the Lees Road junction.

There is, of course, the perennial difficulty that stairs or even ramps are never popular with elderly people, many of whom need crossing facilities most. But I am not saying that a subway or footbridge has been ruled out. I merely gather that it is not among the current proposals and that there are reasons for this. The G.L.C. must make up its mind first on this suggestion.

1733 The point has been made from time to time whether zebra crossings should be converted to X-ways. No such decision will be made until we have decided on the future of X-ways. This we hope to do sometime around the turn of the year.

It has been suggested that if police enforcement of the law were improved along Uxbridge Road, the number of accidents could be reduced. In actual fact, the police recognise that this road needs particular attention and during the period between January and late September of this year, 727 drivers have been reported for exceeding the speed limit and 22 for pedestrian crossing offences. These figures were given to us by the police. The G.L.C. will take them into account when putting its proposals formally to us. I think also that these figures show the police to be very active on the job. I am satisfied that they 1734 are doing their utmost to contribute to the cause of safety in Hillingdon.

Finally, I return to the rôle of my Department. We will be brought into this problem if and when the G.L.C. wants to install or to resite pedestrian crossings. We will also be asked to share the cost of any of the G.L.C's proposed measures which are eligible for improvement grant. I assure my hon. Friend that we shall examine very carefully any measures which the G.L.C. suggests to us. I am sure that he will appreciate that we cannot give a guarantee of our decision until we have seen the council's case, but when that stage is reached we shall most certainly look at the proposals as speedily and as sympathetically as possible.