§ 12. Mr. Dalyellasked the Minister of Transport what assessment he has made of road casualty figures over Christmas and the New Year.
§ Mr. MulleyFinal figures will not be available until about the end of next month. I shall look at these closely, with particular regard to the number of accidents in which alcohol may have been a factor, but there are dangers in attaching too much importance to figures for such a limited period.
§ Mr. DalyellIs it not generally true that as many accidents were attributable to basically unroadworthy vehicles as to drink over this period and that unroadworthiness was often connected with salt and consequent corrosion on the road?
§ Mr. MulleyI cannot say, until the final figures and details are available, what was the main factor in these accidents. I should have thought it going rather far to suggest that salting of the roads was responsible for unroadworthy conditions. It is true that it has a detrimental effect on vehicles, but it is the only effective way of dealing with frost and ice conditions and it is used only when weather conditions make it necessary.
§ Mr. HeseltineIn view of this Question and a very large number of Questions on road safety, will the Minister consider the advantages of establishing a central road safety board to co-ordinate the overlapping responsibilities of his Ministry, local authorities and RoSPA?
§ Mr. MulleyI am quite prepared to examine any suggestion which might lead to greater road safety, but I do not see that overlapping at the moment causes any problems. There are very close consultations on all these matters; indeed sometimes I am criticised because there is a lapse of time due to the consultative process. I would not agree to setting up further bodies unless I were satisfied there was a case for that.