§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the manufacturers of bleeping pelican crossings to ensure that any malfunction is eliminated; and if he will now consider approving the speaking pelican crossing as a suitable replacement for defective existing equipment.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe Department has discussed the safety requirements for audible signals at pelican crossings with the appropriate manufacturers. These requirements include that the failure of all safety interlocks should not cause the audible signal to sound except when a red signal is displayed to traffic.
The method of actuating both a "speaking" pelican crossing and the audible devices on existing pelican crossings is the same. In this respect neither is safer than the other. We have decided against approving "speaking" pelican crossings for other reasons.
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what tests were carried out prior to his 705W Department approving bleeping pelican crossings; and what was the rate of malfunctions detected during such tests.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyComprehensive functional tests were carried out on the equipment prior both to its approval and to its initial introduction in 1977. No malfunctions were observed.
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to alert the public to the risks of malfunction of bleeping pelican crossings.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyLocal authorities have been advised to switch off the audible facility at those crossings with suspect equipment. This action will eliminate any risk from a malfunction.
A press notice has been issued describing the action taken and the reason for it.
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the number of(a) deaths, (b) serious injuries and (c) injuries which have resulted from the malfunctioning of bleeping pelican crossings in each of the past 12 months.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe total of 37 casualties should be compared with total pedestrian casualties in 1987 of 57,453. Of these 2,170 occurred on pelican crossings, and a further 2,470 occurred within 50 m of such a crossing. More than 7,000 pelican crossings were in operation during 1987.
There are very few recorded cases of pedestrian casualties at malfunctioning pelican crossings. In these cases, we do not know if any of the accidents were caused by the defective crossing, as we do not collect the causes of road accidents.
The following table shows number of pedestrian casualties, by severity and by month, at pelican crossings that were out of order or defective, in 1987, the latest year for which complete figures are available.
Pedestrian casualties on pelican crossings that are out of order/defective: Great Britain: 1987 Month Fatal Serious Slight Total January 0 0 1 1 February 0 1 1 2 March 0 1 0 1 April 0 0 1 1 May 0 0 4 4 June 0 0 1 1 July 0 3 6 9 August 0 2 2 4 September 0 2 3 5 October 0 3 2 5 November 0 0 2 2 December 0 0 2 2 — — — — Total 0 12 25 37
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the number of bleeping pelican crossings which have been disconnected in each of the past 12 months as a result of a serious malfunction; and if he will express this as a proportion of the total in service.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyInformation is not recorded centrally in the form requested. The Department has been notified of one such case in Great Britain in the last 12 months. This represents less than 0.013 per cent. of all pelican crossings currently in service in Great Britain.
706WAbout 1,000 (approximately 10 per cent.) of the pelican crossings fitted with similar audible signals have been switched off as a precautionary measure while checks are made and a modification incorporated.