§ 85. Mr. Jannerasked the Minister of Transport whether he will make a statement on the zebra crossings and other measures taken for securing greater safety on the roads; what the effect has been of such measures in reducing casualties on the roads; and what further steps he intends to take in this respect.
Mr. BraithwaiteI do not wish to make a long statement now, but I am grateful for this opportunity to repeat what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Co-ordination of Transport Fuel and Power said last week in another place about the zebra crossings. He said
These have caught the public imagination and can fairly be said to be a real success. The number of deaths and the numbers both of seriously and of slightly injured are significantly down as compared with those for last year; and the trend of accidents, which had been steadily rising since the end of the war, has actually been reversed. I should not, of course, say that we can attribute to "zebra" crossings the whole of this fall, but I have no 55W doubt—and I know that this view is shared by many others—that they have been largely responsible. Arrangements are now well in hand for the lighting of the beacons, and before long the flashing beacon will become a familiar sight.