§ Mr. Geoffrey de Freitasasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he has considered the recent resolution of the British Council of Churches, a copy of which has been sent to him, which, among other things, urges Her Majesty's Government to appoint a Royal Commission to recommend how the level of road accident casualties can be substantially reduced, and to examine the inter-relationship between road safety, transport policy and town planning; and what reply he has made.
§ Mr. NugentWe have considered the resolution of the British Council of Churches to which the hon. Member refers, and we have written to the Council agreeing that the road accident situation needs for its solution the utmost10W co-operation from all road users. Her Majesty's Government, with the cooperation of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and more than 1,100 local authorities, are already taking effective action both to impress upon road users their responsibilities for safety on the roads, and by a number of measures to reduce the circumstances in which accidents occur.
We will give further consideration to the question whether the promotion of road safety would be forwarded by the appointment of a Royal Commission to investigate the whole subject, but we are not prepared to come to a decision on this matter at the present time.