§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the policy of his Department with regard to the fitting of anti-jackknifing equipment to articulated vehicles, in particular with regard to encouraging or making compulsory its use.
§ Mr. MulleyTrials of anti-jackknifing equipment are being carried out under the aegis of my Department's Transport and Road Research Laboratory. A report should be available later this year and I will then consider whether there is a case for the introduction of mandatory requirements designed to minimise or eliminate the incidence of jackknifing.
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any information as to the proportion of articulated vehicles now being fitted with anti-jackknifing equipment.
§ Mr. MulleyMy information is that nearly all new tractive units for articulated vehicles are now being fitted either with load sensing valves or anti-locking braking systems.
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what reports he has received concerning the effectiveness of anti-jackknifing equipment, such as the types manufactured in Coventry and the West Midlands, for articulated vehicles.
§ Mr. MulleyMy Department's Transport and Road Research Laboratory has published a number of reports of track tests of various systems of anti-jackknifing equipment. Long-term field trials of two types of system are now in progress and a report is expected later this year.
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§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has any figures about the number of road accidents in which the jackknifing of an articulated vehicle is a cause or is involved.
§ Mr. MulleyThe number of accidents in which jackknifing occurred was 447 in 1973. Jackknifing was not necessarily the cause of these accidents.