HL Deb 23 January 1964 vol 254 cc1027-9

3.8 p.m.

LORD AIREDALE

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether police authorities have power to close a particular road rendered hazardous by bad weather irrespective of any additional hazard caused by actual obstruction; and, if not, whether they will introduce legislation to confer such power.]

THE MINISTER OF STATE, HOME OFFICE (LORD DERWENT)

My Lords, the Road Traffic Act, 1960, enables a highway authority to close a road temporarily owing to the likelihood of danger to the public, and enables a constable to prohibit a road to vehicular traffic to prevent danger to or from traffic in consequence of extraordinary circumstances. Her Majesty's Government see no reason to think that any extension of these powers is necessary.

LORD AIREDALE

My Lords, I am obliged to the Minister for answering this Question at such short notice. Does his Answer mean that last Tuesday on the motorways the police, had they seen fit to do so, could have placed police barriers across the roads instead of being forced to wait until the roads were blocked by the wreckage of crashed vehicles?

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, I am not sure that I quite understand what the noble Lord means. Is he asking whether the police could have closed the roads before any accident had occurred?

LORD AIREDALE

Yes, my Lords. Supposing the police had been quite certain that if they did not close those roads by their own barriers there would be numerous crashes because of the manner in which people are driving in fog nowadays, could they have forestalled that situation by themselves closing the roads with police barriers without waiting for the tragedies to happen?

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, the police have power to close roads in the event of some exceptional circumstance, such as oil on the road or an accident, but I do not think they can see ahead before an accident occurs and say that an extraordinary situation is going to arise. If the driving is as it should be, fog is not a reason for closing a road. The alternative is to put all traffic on to the minor roads, in which event, of course, the accidents might be worse.

LORD STONHAM

My Lords, I think the noble Lord in his first Answer mentioned extraordinary conditions under which police have power to close a road. Surely, very dense fog would be an extraordinary condition and they should exercise their powers in that way so as to prevent accidents—as, indeed, they finally did on Tuesday, after so many accidents had happened.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, the duty of the police is to keep traffic moving, and in practice they close roads or divert traffic only when something unusual has occurred. I really cannot agree with the noble Lord that fog in this country is unusual.

LORD STONHAM

My Lords, surely the action to be taken depends on the conditions. The police, being on the spot, ought to be able to form a judgment as to whether the conditions are sufficiently unusual. It may be that the fog is sufficiently dense to merit the closing of a road in the interest of saving lives.

LORD DERWENT

My Lords, the police do use judgment, but bad driving is not a thing that the police can foresee.