HL Deb 17 July 1989 vol 510 cc567-9

2.50 p.m.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will introduce regulations making it compulsory for heavy goods vehicles to be fitted with speed limiters.

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, we have no proposals to do so at present, but we keep the situation under review.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon

My Lords, I hope that the noble Lord will review the matter very quickly indeed and impose speed limiters on heavy lorries using the motorways. Is he aware that the speed of heavy lorries has increased alarmingly over the past few years? Is he also aware that not only do they constitute a danger by the accidents they have, but that they are also pushing up speed generally as other traffic strives to pass the convoys of lorries hogging our motorways? Will he take this matter seriously and impose the speed limiters which have been a great success on coaches?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

In fact, my Lords, the number of heavy goods vehicles exceeding speed limits on our motorways was 39 per cent. in the 1983 survey and that had dropped to 22 per cent. in 1987. That is an improvement. It is not good enough, we agree, so that is why we announced earlier this year in the White Paper The Road User and the Law our plans to amend the law to allow the use of cameras to detect speeding offences. The involvement of heavy goods vehicles in accidents has halved over the past 15 years, which is an improvement far better than that of any other form of road transport.

Lord Underhill

My Lords, does the Minister recall an excellent leaflet which was issued jontly by the Freight Transport Association and the Road Haulage Association, addressed to heavy goods vehicle drivers as part of their road safety campaign, in which two slogans were stressed, "Keep to the Limit" and "No Need to Speed"? Despite the circulation of that document to drivers we still had the figures which the Minister has now outlined of more than 20 per cent. of drivers exceeding the speed limit. Have the Government in mind any consultation with those two bodies to which I referred, and also with the Transport and General Workers' Union, on the possibility of regulations on limiters?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, as I have said, we keep the proposals under review. I appreciate the work done by the Freight Transport Association and the other body which the noble Lord mentioned. It is a fact that some operators already fit speed limiters to their lorries. It is also a fact that, on average, a lorry uses 20 per cent. less fuel at 60 mph than it does at 70 mph, so it is in the operators' own interests to keep within the limit.

Lord Mulley

My Lords, can the Minister confirm that tachometer equipment has been fitted to all heavy goods vehicles? To what extent are vehicle examiners examining these records because, surely, they would show a consistent breach of speed limits?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, I know that tachometers have been fitted to all these heavy vehicles. But I do not know to what extent such information can be gleaned from the equipment. I shall have to make inquiries and write to the noble Lord.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that his statement, that the number of convictions for speeding by heavy lorries has gone down, will be greeted by many of us with some astonishment? Is it not a fact that the reason for this drop in convictions is that the police are very concerned about the danger of lorries being parked on the hard shoulder, with consequent danger to other traffic, and that lorries are therefore allowed to get away with speeding when perhaps they ought not to be?

Lord Brabazon of Tara

My Lords, the figures I gave were not concerned with the convictions which were made. They came from the national speed survey, which checked on the numbers. As to the second part of the noble Lord's question, enforcement is a matter for the police. But I shall draw the noble Lord's remarks to the attention of the appropriate authorities.