§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce legislation to ensure that in the interest of road safety all cars are fitted with laminated windscreens.
§ Mr. Horam:Extensive consultations on this issue have recently been carried 553W out with industry and other bodies concerned. These suggest that, at least in the short term, there would be insufficient justification for legislating to allow for laminated glass only. Although the trend is towards a greater use of laminated glass, it does not appear on the evidence to date to have decisive road safety advantages over toughened glass, and it is significantly more expensive. We shall, nevertheless, be considering further in negotiations in the EEC whether it would be reasonable to accept a directive which, after a transitional period, would provide for EEC type approvals for laminated glass only.
§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many accidents were caused in 1977 as a result of broken windscreens.
§ Mr. Horam:I regret that this information is not available. However, a study of 2,130 accidents completed in 1974 by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory, indicated only three as having followed windscreen failure.