§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects a fiche d'impact on the EC bus and coach directive to be produced; and what other EU countries have hop-on hop-off buses in commission in their capital cities. [23604]
§ Mr. NorrisWe are currently awaiting a proposal for the EC bus and coach directive, along with the fiche d'impact from the Commission, but the timing of this is not known.
We are not aware of any other EU countries which operate open platform buses in their capital cities.
§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many(a) deaths, (b) serious injuries and (c) minor injuries have resulted from passengers falling from open-platform double-decker buses in each of the last 10 years; how many complaints he has received in the last 10 years of the dangers of hop-on hop-off buses; and if he will make a statement. [23606]
§ Mr. NorrisThe data available from the Department's Vehicle Inspectorate indicate that the number of fatalities arising from people falling from open platform double-decker buses for each of the 10 years from 1985 to 1994 were 2, 1, 1, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1 respectively. Information collated by London Transport for 1995 is one fatality, 17 serious and 382 slight injuries. Corresponding information on serious and slight injuries for previous years is not available.
35WThe Department receives representations on a variety of bus issues but the dangers of open platform buses have not featured highly in these.