§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Transport (1) how many road accidents were caused by or affected by centre-road bollards and lamp-post fixings in one-way streets; how many of these obstructions have been smashed or damaged for any reasonably stated period of time in any declared area; and if she will take steps to remove these hazards to pedestrians forthwith;
(2) whether she is aware of the dangers to road users, both pedestrians and motorists, of some one-way streets and roads where lamp-posts are fixed in the centre of the road at intervals of 20 to 30 yards; and whether she will take steps to arrange for these lamp-posts to be removed to the side kerb or for overhanging street lighting to be installed.
§ Mr. SwinglerGeneral figures, as requested in my hon. Friend's first Question, are not available from the periodical returns sent to my Department. Figures obtained by the Department's experimental unit in Warwickshire show that in that County and in the County Borough of Coventry, only two out of about 10,000 personal injury accidents involved impact with central refuges in one-way streets.
My right hon. Friend has no doubt that in one-way streets central refuges—including those around lamp posts—contribute to safety, especially for pedestrians. Experience in London is that after the introduction of one way traffic—with the general retention of central refuges 122W —there was a reduction not only in the pedestrian casualty rate, but also in that for all road users.