§ Mr. Snapeasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will authorise further research into the effect of heavier and bigger lorries on the quality of life, which will include an assessment of people's preferences for or dislike of articulated vehicles up to 15.5m long and drawbar units up to 18m long, as compared with larger numbers of smaller vehicles.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe Transport and Road Research Laboratory is already conducting research into public attitudes towards the environmental effects of lorries, including articulated vehicles and drawbar combinations, and this work will continue.
§ Mr. Snapeasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many lorries which are defined as drawbar units are currently licensed; and with what existing categories of lorry they are included.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeAbout 75,000 general goods vehicles are currently licensed to tow drawbar trailers. These include a wide range of trailer types from small compressors to large box vans. Plating and testing records indicate that there are only about 3,000 drawbar trailers over 1 ton unladen weight.
§ Mr. Snapeasked the Secretary of State for Transport what increase in vehicle examiner establishments he is prepared to authorise for the carrying out of effective roadside checks on lorries at night and at weekends as proposed in paragraph 8.73 of the report of the independent committee of inquiry into road haulage operators' licensing of November 1978.
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§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe Department's vehicle examiners already carry' out checks at night and at weekends, and I recognise the usefulness of this work. In present circumstances, however, more resources could be given to this only at the expense of other important areas of the Department's work.
§ Mr. Snapeasked the Secretary of State for Transport what evaluations have been made of an optimum maximum axle weight for British roads, taking account of the trade-off between economic benefits to road hauliers and the costs of road maintenance.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeTransport and Road Research Laboratory supplementary report 590 describes the results
Expenditure on Motorways and Trunk Roads in England £ million at November 1979 prices 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 Maintenance 89 104 114 102 New Construction and Improvement 341 342 352 320 The figures are taken from table 2.6 of Cmnd. 8175.