§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the damage and wear inflicted on highways by private cars.
§ Mr. ChopeThe damage and wear inflicted on highways by private cars is very small in relation to that caused by lorries.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his estimate of the annual cost over the past five years of the damage caused to(a) highways and (b) under-road services by lorries.
§ Mr. ChopeThe road track costs of vehicles in the United Kingdom, and the amounts allocated to large goods vehicles are given in the Department's annual publication "The allocation of road track costs", copies of which are available from the House Library. Technical investigation has failed to establish any direct causal link between heavy lorry traffic and damage to underground services.