HC Deb 12 July 1971 vol 821 cc174-84

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Rossi.]

10.54 p.m.

Mr. Hugh Dykes (Harrow, East)

The subject which I wish to raise tonight has already come to the notice of hon. Members at various times, but it has not figured recently in debates in the House. It is none the less a subject of increasing importance, and I am for that reason glad of this opportunity to raise it on the Adjournment. I refer to the parts of the Highway Code which deal with road lane procedures, and the question of lane consciousness on the part of the driving public, especially in urban areas, where, alas, our roads are becoming increasingly congested and lane discipline is all the more important.

Perhaps, after the heady wine of electricity in Scotland, the question of recognition of divorces and legal separations and the other matters debated during the course of Government business today, it might be thought that the subject of this short debate was of minor significance. In fact, however, it is a matter of vital importance for the traffic authorities, for the Department of the Environment, for my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State, whom I am delighted to see here ready to answer what I have to say tonight, to motorists, to the motoring organisations and to the leading motoring journals. The question of road lane procedures and the way in which this country grapples with it will be of growing importance in the future.

Perhaps it is not a topic in the forefront of most people's minds precisely because of the phenomenon which we have in Britain, that the idea of lane discipline and lane consciousness on the part of drivers is not one to which much thought has been given outside the world of specialists in traffic matters. Yet there are certain factors which, I believe, demand that it be given urgent attention.

Congestion is growing on our urban roads. I hasten to say that I am not here dealing with lane procedures and lane discipline on out-of-town roads and motorways. I am dealing only with lane procedures in urban areas. In London or the other large conurbations of Manchester, Birmingham and so on, the inexorable rise in traffic volume continues. I would be the first to admit that the authorities have done a great deal in using white paint to mark out roads, to delineate lanes and so on in an attempt to improve traffic flow. We have seen what Ministers of Transport of both parties have done to improve traffic flows in, for example, the Greater London area on main spine and through roads. But, none the less, the problem will become increasingly difficult of solution unless a radically new approach and new procedures are adopted for the future.

We are in this country—"blessed" is hardly the word—unfortunately endowed with roads even in the conurbations which are difficult in their shape and design, reflecting the result of historical accidents, roads with many quirks, awkward curves and turns. We ought to be considering in a far more energetic way than ever before the working out and adoption of a more North American approach to lane discipline and procedures. It is essential that there be a much more self -disciplined approach on the part of the British motorist to what constitutes a traffic lane, a two-lane road and a four-lane highway.

I think it fair to say that in urban areas the British driving style is often opportunistic and undisciplined in this respect. As individuals—this has been borne out by psychological investigations—when we are behind the wheel of the motor car we each feel that we are the best driver on the road. I am sure that all hon. Members have experienced this opportunistic and casual approach to traffic lanes shown by other drivers both ahead and behind them—cutting in, overtaking, and not obeying the lines seperating different lanes, and so on.

The authorities have been, naturally, inclined to say that the present system is, perhaps, though marginally deficient, capable of continued improvement on the margin, and they have been reluctant to say that we need radical changes. It is the argument for radical changes that I am attempting to put forward now.

A special study group should be set up within the Department as a matter of urgency to consider the whole question of lane discipline and procedures on our increasingly over-burdened urban roads. Its terms of reference might include the adoption of American-style continuous lines rather than the dotted lines we now have to separate the lanes of our urban roads. Although they would involve additional expenditure on paint, continuous white lines would have a much better psychological effect in dividing lanes. The motorist through other propaganda means, a revamped Highway Code and a suffer driving test, should be much more conscious of the difference between lanes. He should have the feeling that each lane is much more of a separate road than the average motorist now regards it in London and other large cities, so that a change of lane is much more of a major decision.

Not all roads in London are suitable for a multiplicity of lanes. Many would be suitable only for single lane. But they need to be delineated much more clearly and less haphazardly, even if the roads are not homogenous and harmonised as in North America, with its squares and block-by-block separation of junctions.

Continuous white lines should also be extended to the areas around roundabouts. It is a common experience for many motorists to be cut out at roundabouts by a driver who is not aware of the mentally-induced dividing area on a roundabout with more than one lane. This is a complicated matter which needs careful thought.

A number of other items must be coupled with a much stricter and more conscious lane discipline. That is why I also advocate, although reluctantly, the need to consider much stricter parking restrictions on heavily congested, overburdened urban roads. If the authorities are not strict enough about parking on single yellow lines one lane of a two-lane road can often be immobilised for far too long.

It has become increasingly dangerous to have bollards to divide the traffic where no junction is involved. An obvious example in the centre of London is Shaftesbury Avenue, which has bollards all the way up. Many streets in London are characterised by their narrowness, and cars on the point of overtaking must brake sharply to avoid bollards. They reflect a much more leisurely age of traffic and are not relevant to the need for a much faster, more disciplined, steadier, much more conscious flow of traffic in lanes, particularly in narrow streets.

I suggest that we should also have flashing, continental-style traffic signals at night, instead of the red, amber and green lights—not at all junctions, but here the heavy flow of daytime traffic diminishes to a suitable degree. It could not be the normal amber light because of the existing Belisha beacons. It would go a long way to maintain a reasonable speed of traffic flow at such junctions at night, and traffic would no longer be held up excessively. I am sure that it is the common experience of many hon. Members, as they drag themselves off reluctantly from the House of Commons at night on their way home, to find that they are delayed at junctions with no traffic coming in the opposite direction. I am well aware of the departmental arguments against the use of this kind of Continental system : that our lights are vehicle-actuated and the Continental lights are time-based and, therefore, the whole system is different. It simply is not true, however, that one is never delayed for a excessive period at quiet junctions late at night because our lights are, apparently, vehicle-actuated. It just does not work like that. The fault is not mechanical but is in the way that the lights are constructed.

Next—and this is the reason for part of the title of this debate—the Highway Code needs to be revamped to induce a much greater lane discipline and lane consciousness, on the North American pattern. As a visitor from time to time to North America, I have been impressed to see the very restrained way in which drivers there use their lanes, regard them as separate roads and regard a change from one lane to another as a major and important decision necessitating a long flashing signal, in contrast to the jumping from lane to lane which is so characteristic of motoring in London, Birmingham and elsewhere.

The Highway Code has a very weak section on pages 11 and 12 dealing with lines and lanes. It is weak in two respects, because generally the Highway Code is not mandatory in the legal sense, although it may be taken into account under the Road Traffic Acts in litigation which might arise from careless or dangerous driving. It is not mandatory. Perhaps that is the right basis for the Code in the future. None the less, there is, presumably, the right balance between those things which are enforceable legally through litigation and prosecution by the police and the Home Office and something that is merely advisory and gives friendly suggestions and tips about good driving. That is why I find, with some reluctance, because other sections of the Code are admirable, that the section on lines and lanes is pathetic and weak. I very much hope that the Department of the Environment will seriously consider strengthening that section. This applies not to motorway lane discipline but only to urban areas.

To give a quick example, paragraph 56, on page 11, of the Code, states : Do not wander unnecessarily from lane to lane. If you need to move into another lane, first use your mirror. That compares very badly with the equivalent Highway Code in many states of the United States of America and many provinces of Canada, which have a full-blooded section on lane discipline. I admit that their physical conditions merge more happily with their highway codes. Nevertheless, they have a 100 per cent. exhortation to maximum lane discipline and lane-consciousness. That is what I wish to advocate tonight.

For that reason also, I put forward the suggestion that the driving test should have a much more important component devoted to it—either by oral interrogation or written examination, as often applies in the American states-dealing with lane-consciousness. The need to hammer home lane-consciousness and lane discipline will surely mean the difference between bearable and unbearable congestion, not only in the rush hours—and we all see how heavily overburdened our urban roads are, particularly in the Greater London area—but outside the rush hours and until late at night.

The imposition of a much stiffer policy, coupled with the right sanctions and, if necessary, the need for careless driving to embrace also bad lane discipline, would go a long way to improve what will be an increasing problem in the future and with which we are dealing now only at an early stage. It is with these things in mind that I have raised the subject on the Adjournment tonight.

11.10 p.m.

Sir Ronald Russell (Wembley, South)

I shall intervene only for a minute, and I am grateful to both my hon. Friends for allowing me to do so. I shall make only two points. First, I would support what my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. Dykes) said about traffic signals at night, but I would add Sundays and Saturday afternoons as well when the same trouble occurs.

My second point concerns overtaking on motorways. I would ask the Under-Secretary if rule 116 could be amended to allow overtaking on the inside lane when traffic is clinging unnecessarily to the middle lane, which I find happens frequently on the Ml. If one wants to overtake a vehicle in the middle lane one has to go across to the outside lane to do so and then back to the inside lane, which is inconvenient and perhaps dangerous to traffic using the inside lane.

11.12 p.m.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Eldon Griffiths)

My hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East (Mr. Dykes) has done the House a service in raising this matter, and in doing so in so eloquent and well-informed a manner. I pay tribute to the way in which he has done his homework on this important subject.

I do not know whether the British are more or less lane-conscious or more or less disciplined in their respective lanes than people in other countries. I know that whether or not we are better or worse than the Germans, the Americans, or anybody else, we are not good enough, and I agree with my hon. Friend in stressing that. The essential point is that in this country we do not, for the most part, cut in or barge other people about on the pavements or in the home, but somehow when we get into a car far too many are inclined to barge about and to cut in and change lanes in front of other people. Apart from being dangerous, it is exceedingly selfish and bad-mannered, and I am sure the House should record its condemnation of those who behave in that fashion on the roads.

Lane discipline is important for two main reasons : safety and proper traffic flow. The two go together, particularly in urban areas, because if every driver is keeping to the rules traffic has a better chance of moving more smoothly and more safely, since drivers are not having to cope with the unexpected. I will take this opportunity of offering to the motoring public a short list of do's and dont's, and in this I hope that I can carry my hon. Friends with me. Do not change lanes unless you have to. Once in your lane, stay in the middle of it and do not wander about. Do not use the right hand lane just because you are travelling fast. It is there for overtaking. It is not there to be used as a speedway. Finally, if you must change lanes, check on the traffic behind. Look in the driving mirror and signal your intention in good time to the traffic behind you.

My hon. Friend referred to the Highway Code. The rules of this game are laid down clearly in rules 50 to 62. There is a separate section on motorways in rules 112 to 116. I note what my hon. Friend has said, but I do not agree that the Highway Code in this respect is pathetic or weak. However, I will consider his points carefully when we come to the next issue of the Highway Code. There is another source of traffic advice in the driving manual published by my Department for the modest price of 62½ new pence. It is called "Driving" and goes into more detail than is possible in the Highway Code.

My hon. Friend referred to the American lane system. Having had a good deal of personal experience of driving in the United Slates for about 12 years, I am bound to say that traffic conditions there are very different from those in most of our towns and cities. American towns mostly have the square or rectilinear pattern, and most of the American traffic is more homogeneous than ours, that is to say, their cars are more likely to be of the same size and there is nothing like the same mixture of vehicles of different performance plus a whole medley of public transport, lorries, motor bikes, cyclists and so on. This in turn must mean that American speeds tend to be more uniform and consistent than those on British roads. Consequently, the need to overtake, which is responsible for much of the lane changing in this country, occurs less frequently. By the same token, a ban on lane changing is less easy to enforce in this country than it may be in the American situation.

My hon. Friend referred to the driving test as a means of educating drivers in proper lane discipline. The routes over which our tests are conducted are naturally conditioned by the sort of roads near the test centres, but I assure my hon. Friend that we do our best to ensure that all driving test routes include roads on which there is a good mixture of traffic and where lane discipline can be and is tested. I assure him that any serious fault in this respect—lane wandering, changing lanes without proper precautions, or selecting the wrong lane for turning—is recorded against the applicant and as such can frequently involve failure.

My hon. Friend mentioned lane markings. Here I am bound to disagree with his suggestion that we might use mandatory solid white lines on our roads to enforce lane discipline. A line of this type is being used to mark lanes reserved for buses, and there is great scope for bus priority lanes in our crowded urban environment. As a general rule, it is right to reserve solid lines for dangerous sites on two-way roads. The double white line system is well understood in this country and commands a high level of general obedience. It is questionable whether the same respect could be maintained if the full force of the law were applied generally to all lane lines regardless of whether the need for them was clear to the motoring public. Anything which devalued the impact of our double white line system would be a very doubtful gain from a road safety point of view. But that is not to say that the present road marking system is fixed down to the last detail. We are always looking for improvements to meet changing needs and I am perfectly happy to consider some of my hon. Friend's suggestions, including his suggestions for radical change. I will consider, although I do not give any undertaking, his suggestion for a working party.

My hon. Friend suggested that traffic bollards could cause more danger than they were worth, and he referred especially to Shaftesbury Avenue. I should like to consult the Metropolitan Commissioner about that, although with so many tourists in the middle of London, using roads all over the place, there is something to be said for pedestrian refuges, even in Shaftesbury Avenue, and we have to remember the pedestrian as well as the vehicle. I have looked at various ideas for sanctuary lanes and raised strips, but none gives the same protection to pedestrians as does the bollard, and nor would they separate opposing vehicles so effectively. But, again, we are looking at the design of bollards because, with cars tending to be designed with a lower eye-line for the driver, it may be possible that the size and location of bollards can be done rather differently from today.

As for traffic signals, my hon. Friend has said that, for the most part, we have vehicle-actuated signals in this country. Our fixed-time cycles are normally satisfactory during peak traffic conditions, but no one can deny that, when the traffic is light, they can and do cause delay. Nearly all of them being capable of vehicle actuation, a problem has arisen recently, namely, that with the very large increase in the volume of traffic, there has been a great deal more heavy wear and tear on the rubber surface tubing which actuates the signals. I am sorry to have to say that in many instances, because of the heavier wear and tear, the vehicle actuation is not working at present, and this is the cause of a good deal of the delay.

Fortunately, an improved maintenance service has been negotiated recently with the signal companies, and I hope that the new system which is coming into use shortly will be adopted by all local authorities so that traffic signals with pneumatic detectors will get back once again to full vehicle actuation and that that will cut down delays.

My Department has developed an improved form of detection, using what are called inductive loops buried beneath the road surface. Each loop is buried three or four inches beneath the carriageway surface. When a vehicle passes over it, its electrical characteristics change, and the change can be detected by electronic equipment. A buried inductive loop can recognise either a vehicle passing over it or, alternatively, a stationary vehicle standing on it. This information is then used by the traffic signal controller to recognise traffic movements and traffic demands.

The inductive loop is not widely known, but it performs a function similar to that of the pneumatic detector. However, being buried beneath the carriageway, it is not subject to the same wear and tear. Therefore the problem of its wearing out does not arise. It is a more reliable detector than the pneumatic type, and it should meet some of the problems of delay to which my hon. Friend has drawn attention.

My hon. Friend also spoke about parking and waiting restrictions. I agree entirely that the problem arises very often from sheer unscrupulousness and selfishness on the part of the few who place the many at great inconvenience and some risk. I hope that we are all clear that, while yellow lines prohibit parking, genuine loading to adjacent premises is permitted unless the more restrictive marks known as "blips" are also present on the kerb. Local authorities have quite wide powers to control loading, but many selfish drivers take advantage of the exemption for loading at the expense of delays to their fellow drivers. I am sure that the whole House will join me in condemning the selfishness and sheer bad manners of those who park and wait illegally at the expense of their fellow motorists.

Recently, the Metropolitan Police Commissioners have reminded drivers that exemption from waiting restrictions applies only to vehicles which are actually being loaded or unloaded. It is right to underline the warning of the Metropolitan Police Commissioners that, where this is not apparent, drivers must expect enforcement action.

My hon. Friend the Member for Wembley, South (Sir R. Russell) raised a special point about overtaking on motorways. It was a valuable contribution, as all my hon. Friend's contributions on the subject area. I shall be writing to him about it.

Inevitably, in the time available to me, I have had to deal summarily with the matters raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, East. I hope that I have said enough to convince him that we in the Department—

The Question having keen proposed after Ten o'clock, and the debate having continued for half an hour, Mr. DEPUTY SPEAKER adjourned the House without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.

Adjourned at twenty-four minutes past Eleven o'clock.