§ Mr. Moateasked the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to be in a position to introduce regulations for fitting anti-spray equipment on heavy lorries; if the regulations will apply to old and new vehicles; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI understand that the British Standards Institution is expected to clear, for publication, a standard on spray-reducing devices next month. I shall then announce our proposals for the application of the standard to appropriate classes of heavy goods vehicle.
§ Mr. Nealeasked the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has carried out on the damage to buildings caused by heavy lorries using adjacent highways; and if he will publish the findings.
§ Mrs. ChalkerTransport and Road Research Laboratory reports LR 418, SR 402, SR 429 and LR 1020, copies of which are in the Library, deal with this subject. A further report will be published shortly. The laboratory's conclusion is that in general the levels of vibration caused by traffic are not high enough to cause direct failure of buildings, and are unlikely to cause fatigue damage except to buildings already stressed by other causes.
§ Mr. Nealeasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce proposals to compensate owners of properties which have sustained damage as a result of the vibration caused by heavy lorries using adjoining highways.
§ Mrs. ChalkerI have no plans to do so.
§ Mr. Soamesasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will introduce measures to ban heavy lorries from using minor roads on Sundays.
§ Mrs. ChalkerLocal authorities already have wide powers to ban these vehicles where particular problems arise. It would be wrong to impose a more general control because the number of heavy lorries using minor roads on Sundays is small and most of them have a genuine need to be there.