§ 7. Mr. Peter Freemanasked the Minister of Transport how many zebra crossings he has authorised; how many have been lighted since the order was made; by what date lighting of crossings was to be compulsory; and to what date he is now postponing it.
Mr. BraithwaiteThere are now about 11,000 authorised zebra crossings, but few if any of these have yet been lighted apart from experimental installations. No order has been made on the subject of lighting, but my right hon. Friend has asked local authorities to proceed with lighting the beacons as rapidly as possible in advance of the amendment of the regulations which will in due course make this compulsory. No date has yet been fixed for this purpose.
§ 21. Mr. Chapmanasked the Minister of Transport why he has allowed the removal of all the zebra crossings outside the Austin Motor Company's premises at the junction of Bristol Road South and Lickey Road, Birmingham.
Mr. BraithwaiteThe crossings were removed by the Birmingham Corporation with my right hon. Friend's approval because they held up traffic very seriously at the times when workers were arriving or leaving and for the rest of the day they were not needed. There are refuges which help pedestrians to cross the roads here in safety.