§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many motorists were(a) prosecuted for and (b) convicted for offences relating to the illegal use of bus lanes in the last year for which figures are available; and what were the figures for 1990. [51087]
§ Mr. MichaelProsecutions and convictions for this offence cannot be distinguished from other offences connected with neglect of traffic directions in the statistics collected centrally.
The Government are supporting the Traffic Director for London in developing a system whereby bus lane offences can be detected by camera.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers have been(a) stopped for and (b) convicted of offences arising from excessive exhaust emissions in (i) the Metropolitan Police area and (ii) England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available. [51079]
§ Mr. MichaelInformation obtained from the Vehicle Inspectorate (an executive agency of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions) shows that 111,865 vehicles were stopped for a specific excess exhaust emission check by the Inspectorate in England and Wales in the year 1996–97. 6,450 of these were in the Greater London area.
There were 94 proceedings for this offence in England and Wales in 1996, of which 65 resulted in convictions. 17 of these proceedings and 11 of the convictions were in the Metropolitan Police area.
Most offences of this nature encountered by the Vehicle Inspectorate are dealt with by the issue of a prohibition notice and 5,733 such notices were issued in England and Wales in 1996–97, 420 of them in the Greater London area.
Under the Environment Act 1995, local authorities now have the power to conduct checks for excess exhaust emissions, and in trials taking place in seven local authority areas, figures provided by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions show that nearly 8,000 vehicles have been tested so far in 1998, resulting in 450 fixed penalty notices being issued.
§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the experimental schemes involving video cameras placed in buses to film those illegally using bus lanes; in which areas they are located; and if he will make a statement. [51086]
§ Mr. MichaelFollowing a pilot project in 1995, an on-board camera system for enforcing bus lane offences was "type approved" in December 1997, after being fully tested against a published specification as required by the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988. It provides visual evidence of an offence with the exact time and location.
438WThe initial Area Scheme is managed by the Traffic Director for London, in partnership with the Metropolitan Police, in an area broadly bounded by the A1, A10, A406 and A501, with 61 bus lanes within the boroughs of Islington, Camden, Hackney, Haringey, Enfield and the City of Westminster. Boundary and repeater signs inform drivers. The Area Scheme has proved successful and the Traffic Director for London is currently working up a programme for London-wide implementation.