§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current legislation regarding parked vehicles in unlit or semi-lit streets during the hours of darkness; if this is conducive to road safety; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HoramUnder Section 68 of the Road Traffic Act 1972, vehicles on the road in the dark must, except as provided in regulations, have their lamps lit. Regulations made in 1972 exempted most light-weight vehicles when parked on440W roads with a speed limit of 30 mph or less, facing in the same direction as the flow of traffic and not less than 15 yards from a junction. In 1975, the exemption was extended to vehicles parked in recognised parking places.
The purpose of the 1972 regulations was to introduce order into a confused situation and to improve enforceability. It was thought that an extra 1,100 vehicles parked on 30 mph roads were involved in injury accidents in the year following the introduction of the regulations, but it is not known how far this was due to parked vehicles being inherently more dangerous when unlit or to an increase in the number of parked vehicles.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) how many minor accidents were caused by parked vehicles in unlit or semi-lit streets during the hours of darkness in each of the last five years: (a) in Cambridgeshire and (b) in the rest of the country;
(2) how many serious accidents were caused by vehicles parked in unlit or semi-lit streets during the hours of darkness in each of the last five years: (a) in Cambridgeshire and (b) in the rest of the country.
§ Mr. HoramThe available information is as follows:
INJURY ACCIDENTS IN DARKNESS WHERE VEHICLE CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT: GREAT BRITAIN 1975 1976 No street lighting Street lights unlit No street lighting Street lights unlit Fatal 25 3 12 1 Serious 136 31 157 24 Slight 224 65 220 74 All severities 385 99 389 99 I regret that information for more than two years could be extracted only at disproportionate cost and that statistics of road accidents and casualties in local areas are a matter for the local authorities concerned. I suggest that the hon. Member gets in touch with Cambridgeshire County Council.