§ Mr. AtkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what safety studies his Department has undertaken into the fitting of reversing bleepers on lorries; whether this practice has been introduced in other countries; and if he has any plans to introduce legislation to make them compulsory in the United Kingdom.
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Year Total 1981 585 1982 650 1983 700 1984 695 1985 773 1986 1,038 1987 1,111 1 Includes violence against the person and indecent assault.
London Underground Ltd.: fatal accidents and injuries to staff, passengers and police Year2 Fatal Major injury 1984 3 13 1985 6 2 1986 4 16 1987 35 25 2 Figures not available before 1984. Does not include trespassers or suicides.
London Buses Ltd.: assaults on bus staff Year3 Total 1980 1,123 1981 1,007 1982 1,228 1983 1,157 1984 1,222 1985 1,344 1986 1,128 1987 883 3 Figures not available before 1980. Information is not kept centrally on assaults on passengers.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyStatistical evidence shows very few road accidents involving reversing vehicles. For this reason we have no plans to make the fitting of reversing alarms compulsory. The primary responsibility for reversing safely rests with drivers. The Highway Code contains comprehensive advice about this. Reversing alarms are an aid to reversing safety. That is why we permit them to be used on certain categories of vehicle, including heavy lorries.
We have the benefit of advice from Mr. C. P. Hanson-Abbott of Brigade Electronics Ltd. and his "National Reverse in Safety" campaign. His company is the market leader in reversing alarms in this country. He has been pushing Ministers to make the alarms compulsory for heavy goods vehicles.