§ Sir Clive Bossomasked the Secretary of State for the Environment why it would cost more to provide crash barriers on motorways at the time of construction than to do so after the motorways have been opened.
§ Mr. Graham PageThe provision of safety barriers on motorways which are already in course of construction under a contract has to be carried out as a variation to that contract and additional costs are incurred on account of disruption. This will not occur where barriers either form part of the road construction contract documents from the 203W start or where they are installed under a separate specific contract.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the motorways in order of the number of accidents per vehicle mile.
§ Mr. Eldon GriffithsNo, I see no value in this comparison.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the reduction in the number of accidents attributable to motorway barriers; if he is satisfied with their effectiveness; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael HeseltineBarriers have not been installed for long enough on heavily trafficked motorways to enable a comprehensive evaluation of accident statistics to be made, but from preliminary studies it appears that safety barriers will not reduce total numbers of accidents. They do, however, reduce the severity of very many accidents by virtually eliminating cross-over accidents with their resultant high fatality rates, and I am thus well satisfied with their effectiveness.
1968 1969 1970 1971* Miles of motorway in use as of 1st April … 547 599 657 787 In daylight: Injury accidents … … … … 280† 962 1,099 730 Fatalities … … … … 74 102 85 53 Serious casualties … … … … 413 601 515 367 In dark hours: Injury accidents … … … … 282† 625 659 368 Fatalities … … … … 77 83 66 42 Serious casualties … … … … 361 383 365 211 * January-July. † Fatal and serious accidents only.