Colonel Sandeman Alienasked the Minister of Transport whether any county council has submitted to him for approval and Road Fund grant a scheme of road improvements based upon an investigation into the causes of road accidents on the roads of the county, similar to the investigation into road accidents and the rural road improvements based thereon recently undertaken in Oxfordshire?
§ Mr. Burgin:No, Sir. The Oxfordshire scheme was in the nature of a special experiment but other counties are carrying out improvements at danger spots in the normal course of their highway programmes.
Colonel Sandeman Allenasked the Minister of Transport whether there are officers of his Department attached to the offices of divisional road engineers in the provincial areas for the special work of investigating the cause of any road accident occurring within the area; and whether he will consider the feasibility of publishing, in the form of reports to be issued from time to time, the conclusions of these officers on the causes of the most serious accidents and the best means of preventing similar accidents in the future?
§ Sir G. Foxasked the Minister of Transport how many officers of his Department have been trained to observe the attitude of the travelling public towards measures which were intended to increase their safety; and what has been the result of their observations?
§ Mr. Burgin:There are eight accident officers whose chief functions are to study 1598W conditions in their areas, to assist and stimulate local safety committees and to co-operate with local authorities and the police in the removal of causes of accidents. The result of their observations goes to confirm the inference to be drawn from the returns of accidents that there is much room for improvement on the part of all road users in obedience to the Highway Code. I will bear in mind the question of publishing reports by these officers when they have had a longer experience of their work.
§ Wing-Commander Jamesasked the Minister of Transport whether, as it is evident from the reduction of road accidents during the abnormally dry Easter period that slippery road surfaces are a major factor of causation, he will call the attention of local authorities to this point?
§ Mr. Burgin:Whilst good road surfaces are most desirable I am afraid I am unable to accept the assumption underlying my hon. and gallant Friend's question, that the condition of road surfaces is in itself a major cause of accidents. Assuming always due care on the part of drivers, I recognise that improvement of surfaces may diminish the risk of accident, and with that object, continuous attention is being directed to the subject by my Department in consultation with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and by highway authorities generally.
§ Sir G. Foxasked the Minister of Transport whether his attention has been called to the fact that during the first three months of the current year the number of persons killed in road accidents in Oxfordshire was only five as against 11 for the same period last year, whereas the comparative numbers for Buckinghamshire rose from seven to 17; and whether he has given consideration to the question whether this improvement in Oxfordshire is in any way due to the special road improvements adopted in that county?
§ Mr. Burgin:Yes, Sir, I am aware of the figures referred to. I am not prepared to deduce any reliable conclusions from figures relating to such short periods, especially as the monthly fluctuations within those periods are considerable, nor to accept the suggestion that adjoining counties are necessarily comparable. I 1599W am satisfied, however, that the improvements carried out at road intersections in Oxfordshire, on the lines of the recommendations made in my Department's Memorandum on the Lay-out and Construction of Roads, have had the effect of reducing the risk of accident at those places.