HL Deb 03 March 1966 vol 273 cc778-80
LORD CHESHAM

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 they will confirm their statement that the 70 m.p.h. speed limit experiment was introduced to deal with the special problem of accidents during the winter months.]

THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF POWER (LORD LINDGREN)

My Lords, although the introduction of the current 70 m.p.h. speed limit experiment was occasioned by the appalling accidents on motorways early in the winter, my right honourable friend the Minister of Transport has made it plain from the start that the experiment might be extended, changed or dropped, depending on the evidence.

LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether in that Answer he is referring to his present right honourable friend?

LORD LINDGREN

Yes, my Lords.

LORD CHESHAM

Does the noble Lord agree that his other right honourable friend who devised and introduced this experiment, introduced it in plain words in his own official handout to the effect that it was for the winter months?

LORD LINDGREN

Yes, my Lords, winter months were mentioned. But, equally, he said that it was to be for an experimental period of four months from Christmas until after Easter and that the measure could be extended if the limit proved effective in reducing accidents.

LORD CHESHAM

My Lords, would the noble Lord say at what stage, and when and where, his right honourable friend made available to the public this news, that it was no longer to do with the winter months?

LORD LINDGREN

My Lords, it has been clear right from the start—there is nothing to hide; there is no hole-in-the corner business about it—that this was a road safety measure introduced because of appalling accidents. Under the Acts of 1960 and 1962 it is possible to have an experimental speed limit for four months only. It was made clear that, depending upon the evidence obtained from the experiment, the decision would be made whether it should be dropped, varied or made permanent.

LORD CHESHAM

May I take it, then, that the noble Lord, on behalf of the Government, confirms that there is a definite possibility of this experiment being continued and that it has nothing to do with the winter months?

LORD LINDGREN

My Lords, it depends upon the evidence which my right honourable friend will receive this month from the Road Research Laboratory, from the Home Office, from the police, from the A.A., and from the R A.C.