Seat Belts (Hansard, 28 June 1984)

§ Lord Diamond
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, the design and performance of seat-belts is under constant development and some potential improvements are being investigated by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory. The Government are considering possible requirements for the fitting of 1032 seat-belts to the rear seats of new passenger cars and to the front seats of coaches.

§ Lord Diamond
My Lords, I am very grateful to the Minister for that encouraging Answer. Is the noble Lord aware that one of the reasons that I put down this Question for a second time was so that I could apologise to him and, indeed, the House, which I now do, for not being in my place when it was arranged the first time, notwithstanding the fact that for the previous half-hour my eyes had been glued to a large clock on the wall which was some 14 minutes slow? I should like to ask the noble Lord what is the precise form of the indications from his department with regard to manufacturers and their production of coaches in anticipation of any possible development along the lines that he has indicated? For example, would it not now be wise not to bring in legislation, but to indicate to manufacturers that there is considerable feeling about the dangers which are unnecessarily incurred by those in coaches without seat-belts and that they might, for example, be encouraged to include in their specification seat-belt couplings and other points such as that which would help the matter forward?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, so far as coaches are concerned, there are a number of very great technical difficulties involved in fitting either lap, or lap and diagonal, seat-belts in all the seating. Her Majesty's Government have placed accent on the encouragement of further research with regard to the construction of coaches, because the majority of accidents occur as a result of the roof crushing in. Within the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe the United Kingdom has taken a lead in pressing for international agreements for new standards. We are represented on that commission by my department's chief mechanical engineer. Some agreement has been reached and so results may be expected over the years in the course of new manufacture.

§ Lord Teviot
My Lords, will my noble friend be kind enough to give us some details of accidents that have occurred with coaches and, bearing in mind the Question of the noble Lord opposite, perhaps he can also give us details of fatalities which have arisen out of those accidents, which is even worse?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, mercifully there are very few coach accidents in this country and, indeed, abroad. In 1983, regretfully 38 people were killed on buses or coaches and that total comprised 3 drivers, 22 passenger occupants, and 13 passengers boarding or alighting from either a coach or a bus. In the last five years the average fatality rate has been 31 a year, against 75 in the previous five years. So the record, while nothing to be complacent about, is not demonstrably very high.

Lord Winstanley
My Lords, will the noble Lord do what he can to expedite the application of seat-belt regulations to the rear seats of motor cars to protect not only the passengers in the rear seats, but often those occupying the front seats as well? In that connection, is the noble Lord aware that I ask that 1033 question as one who was originally reluctant to support the compulsory application of the seat-belt regulations but who now, in the light of the recent evidence, freely accepts his error?

§ Lord Lucas of Chilworth
My Lords, as I indicated in my original Answer, my honourable friend the Minister of State in the Department of Transport is giving consideration to possible requirements for the fitting of rear seat-belts. I think that noble Lords will accept that it would be unwise for us to draw any particular conclusion since the compulsory wearing of seat-belts in the front of cars is only 18 months through the trial period. It is being monitored and it would be unwise to draw any conclusions until the experimental period is completed.