THE EARL OF MANSFIELDhad given Notice that he would draw the attention of His Majesty's Government to the number of collisions that occur after dark, between motor-cars and motor-bicycles and heavy transport vehicles stationary on the roads; and move for Papers. The noble Earl said: My Lords, one of the most notable changes which have taken place, especially on our main roads, during the last few years has been the great development of the carriage of heavy goods. It is no part of my intention to-day to discuss the highly controversial question of whether it would have been better, in the first place, to have diverted that traffic to the railways, as many people believe. It is quite likely, had that been done, it would have been much more advantageous to the railways than any of the schemes of nationalisation so dear to some people's hearts. But undoubtedly this growth of the carrying of heavy goods on our roads, particularly after dark, has given rise to a number of problems, especially in regard to the increase in the number of collisions and other accidents. It is my hope that I 767 shall show your Lordships in the few minutes which I wish to occupy this afternoon that hitherto these problems have not been given the attention that they deserve.
I wish to make it clear in the first place that this is in no way an attack on the drivers of heavy commercial vehicles. There are among them, of course, un-skilful and discourteous drivers, but, then, these exist among all classes of drivers, and I do not think there is any evidence to show that the drivers of heavy goods vehicles are any worse than any other section of the road-using community. The fact remains that we have now on a great many of our main roads an enormous traffic in heavy goods, carried particularly after dark. My attention has been drawn to this in the course of the last few months as a result of a number of fatal accidents which have taken place, particularly in the two Scottish counties with which I have special connection. In each of those counties two accidents took place involving the loss of eight lives in all. Each of these was due to a motor car or motor bicycle colliding after dark with a large heavy transport vehicle stationary by the roadside. It is likely, and indeed probable, that in some of these cases there was negligence or recklessness on the part of the driver of the overtaking vehicle. But, even if that is the case, we have to bear in mind that only a limited number of the drivers of motor vehicles are people who might be described as really skilled. In framing legislation or regulations for traffic we have to remember that a very considerable proportion of drivers are and always will be what I may term semiskilled, and that, furthermore, no number of certificates from a driving school will ever show what the reactions of a driver will be when he is faced with an emergency and has only seconds, or perhaps a fraction of a second, in which to act.
I think it is probable that most of these accidents have been caused by an inadequacy of light on the rear of the stationary vehicle. A good many of these heavy lorries are still lighted with oil lamps. The number, I imagine, is a steadily diminishing one, but there is still quite a substantial proportion of these lamps being used which under the best conditions are not visible at a very great distance, and when it is remembered that these lorries run for sometimes 768 several hundreds of miles throughout the night, often over wet roads, it is not surprising that even quite powerful lights become obscured with mud and dirt, and are, therefore, visible at an even shorter distance than would normally be the case. Besides there is the point that all of your Lordships who do much driving after dark will appreciate, and that is that when the roads are wet and there is rain falling, or there is fog or rain accompanied by bright moonlight, it is extraordinary how difficult it is to pick up a stationary vehicle even when one is driving at a very moderate speed. This is noticeably the case when another vehicle is coming from the opposite direction. Even if there is no question of being dazzled the mere amount of light of the oncoming vehicle that gets into one's eyes makes it very difficult indeed to perceive a stationary lorry at more than a comparatively short distance.
Actually I believe that Section 50 of the Road Traffic Act of 1930 does make it an offence to leave any vehicle by the side of the road so as to be a danger to other users of the road, but in practice my information is that this section is very largely a dead letter. The prosecutions under it are few in number, and have been mainly, if not entirely, confined to cases where lorries or other vehicles have been left on a bend or in some other actually dangerous position. Now these heavy transport drivers are compelled by Statute to rest every four hours, and it is impossible for them in the majority of cases to find any place off the road where they can park their vehicles. They cannot do as the driver of an ordinary light car would and get into a gateway, because there is no room. They cannot draw up into a side road, because they would block all traffic out of that side road. As a rule they cannot even draw on to a grass verge, because if they do the weight of their vehicle is so great that the side of the road in many cases would and sometimes does give way and the vehicle would be precipitated into the ditch. For this reason they are obliged to remain more or less on the highway, blocking up a large portion of it, and thereby constituting themselves a considerable danger to other road users.
The attention of the Ministry of Transport has, I believe, in the past been drawn to this, but I am not aware of anything having yet been done. I shall 769 be glad to learn from the noble Earl, who, I understand, is to reply for the Government, whether any steps are contemplated in the near future. But, having raised this subject, I venture to make two suggestions which I think are of a constructive nature. The first is that when main roads are being reconstructed, or new roads or by-passes built, wherever they are likely to have to carry a large amount of heavy traffic, particularly after dark, bays should be provided of a reasonable size and at fairly frequent intervals. If this were done it would not add perceptibly to the already very heavy cost of repairing or making these roads, and would certainly add very considerably to the safety of all road users. I think it is rather unfortunate that in the past few years, when we have spent so many tens of millions of pounds upon our roads, more provision has not been made for places where vehicles can draw off the road when the time comes for the drivers to have to rest.
The other suggestion that I would make is perhaps of a more original nature. The Automobile Association, I believe, do provide a sign of a somewhat distinctive character, a red reflector, to put upon the rear of vehicles, but I would suggest, in view of the large number of red lights that one finds already about the road of a very varying character, that something totally different would be advisable to denote a heavy vehicle at rest. Perpetually one sees in front red tail lights on vehicles, moving or stationary, the red circles of thirty-mile limits, and nowadays, every mile or two, a lantern denoting that road repairs or improvements are in operation. I do not think that another red light is going to be particularly noticeable, and I would therefore put forward the suggestion that a reflector of a totally different colour and different shape to any in use might be made obligatory for the use of all heavy lorries which habitually carry goods after dark. It might be, say, a blue cross or triangle of about a foot or fifteen inches in size, so that any person driving behind any such vehicle would recognise at once that he had in front of him a lorry stationary at the side of the road. Such a reflector would be infinitely more visible at a considerable distance than would any tail light or small road reflector of the sort now in use. These suggestions are put forward without any dogmatism as to 770 their value. I do hope the noble Earl will be able to give your Lordships some assurance that this problem is being considered, and that steps will be taken in the future to improve a situation which, although perhaps not the most numerous cause of road accidents after dark, still does bring about enough accidents and enough danger to justify some urgent steps being taken in the near future. With those few remarks I bring forward my Motion, naturally not in any hostile sense, but simply in the hope that by so doing one of the admittedly smaller causes of accidents on the road may be eliminated and the terrible toll of casualties somewhat reduced, which is one of the most unfortunate features of all road traffic to-day. I beg to move.
THE EARL OF ERNEMy Lords, this problem of road accidents continues to cause very grave concern to His Majesty's Government and to the Departments primarily concerned with their prevention. All noble Lords and indeed the country as a whole are, I am sure, awaiting with the greatest interest the Report of the Select Committee of this House which has been engaged in reviewing the whole question of road accidents. The total number of accidents last year varies little from that of the year before. It looked probable until late in the year that there would be a considerable reduction, but figures for the last two months of last year were disappointing.
Accidents of the type to which the noble Lord refers in his Motion are often of a very serious character and for that reason attract public attention, but they are not so numerous as is often supposed. Of the 6,337 fatal accidents and nearly 200,000 other accidents in the year ending 31st March, 1937, only seven fatal and 225 non-fatal accidents were caused by the absence or inadequacy of a rear light. The total number of collisions with stationary vehicles during the hours of darkness apart from any question of rear lights, was of course, considerably larger—46 fatal and 2,075 non-fatal, with a further six fatal and 304 non-fatal which occurred at dusk. The fact that accidents of the type that the noble Earl refers to are very few in comparison to the rest, is no reason why every practicable step should not be taken to prevent them. As the law stands to-day no vehicle is allowed to stop in such a position as to cause danger to other users of the road. The 771 noble Earl referred to that passage of the law and rather inferred that it was a dead letter, but there were something like 1,700 convictions in the year 1937 for that very offence.
As the law stands, it provides that vehicles have to carry during the hours of darkness two lamps in front and one red at the rear. The Highway Code emphasizes—(1) that vehicles must always be able to pull up well within the distance for which you can see the road to be clear whether by day or night; (2) that at night you should always drive well within the limits of your lights, and when your headlights are dipped or extinguished be specially careful. If you are dazzled slow down even to a standstill. Every motor vehicle must be equipped with an anti-dazzle device, unless its headlights are permanently deflected. Now in October, 1938, regulations came into operation which will indirectly affect the rear lighting of all new motor vehicles and will apply to all vehicles on and after 1st October, 1941. The previous regulations merely required that number plates should be "easily distinguishable" without specifying any distance, but the new regulations require the letters and figures to be easily distinguishable from a distance in front of or behind the vehicle of 75 feet in normal daylight and 60 feet during the hours of darkness. Of course it will be some time before the effect of these regulations can be seen, but their effect should in the long run be to improve visibility at night and to reduce the number of accidents due to collisions with stationary vehicles.
Various suggestions have been made which the Minister is considering. One suggestion is that a second rear light should be fixed on vehicles and that the second light should be separately wired so that if one should fail the other would remain alight. Another suggestion is the carrying of a reflector as well as a light. That bears very closely on the suggestion which the noble Earl has made. I cannot comment now on his suggestion, but it is in the same category as those which I have mentioned and which the Minister of Transport is closely examining. Another suggestion is that "draw-ins" or "lay-bys" should be provided at intervals on the roads. The noble Earl elaborated that. That also is under consideration and is being watched very closely at this moment by the Ministry of 772 Transport. In conclusion the Minister is closely watching the position and considering the various suggestions made. In addition evidence was given before your Lordships' Committee on this matter and I cannot, of course, anticipate what their recommendation will be, but I hope that the publicity which will be given to this short debate may lead to even greater care being exercised by motorists driving at night.
THE EARL OF MANSFIELDMy Lords, I am much obliged to the noble Earl for his reply, with which I am, at least for the moment, quite satisfied. I would only just draw your Lordships' attention to two points. The first is that although it is quite true, as the noble Earl said, that there are many admirable regulations already in existence—if those regulations were universally respected there would have been no debate on this subject this afternoon—still I think many motor users are apt to treat those regulations with the same respect as many members of the community treat the Ten Commandments. The other point is that I hope that the Ministry of Transport will not necessarily wait until the Report of the Select Committee is available and the whole matter of a new Traffic Act has been thrashed out, because that is likely to take a good deal of time. Traffic after dark is constantly increasing. I myself and others have noticed its growth even in the last few months. If action is to be delayed for, say, a couple of years, I am afraid that in the meantime we shall have an increase, rather than a decrease, in the number of road accidents. I beg leave to withdraw my Motion.
§ Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.