Heavy Lorries (Hansard, 13 January 1992)

§ 13. Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what new initiatives he plans to reduce the damage caused by heavy lorries.

§ Mr. Chope
The Government have a policy of continuing to reduce the noise, pollution, vibration and road damage caused by heavy lorries.

§ Mr. Flynn
Is the Minister aware that three annual checks by Welsh trading standards officers discovered that as many as one in five lorries on Welsh roads are overloaded, yet the chance of being checked is one in every 5,000 journeys? When will the Minister do something to reduce the damage and danger caused by heavy lorries, especially in rural areas such as my constituency and the areas of Caerleon and Marshfield? Will he promise to resist all attempts to increase the maximum permitted weights of heavy lorries?

§ Mr. Chope
On the last point, we are committed to minimising the impact of heavy goods vehicles on roads and we are arguing strongly in Europe for road-friendly suspension for lorries. As to the enforcement of lorry weights, we have doubled the number of inspections over the past five years. I share the hon. Gentleman's concern about breaches of the law. That is why I hope that we shall be able to introduce weigh-in-motion sensors over the coming months.