§ Lord Higginsasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they favour the recent increases in the height of traffic islands in the centre of main roads: and what studies they have made to establish whether this increases the risk of damage to vehicles, injury and loss of life if an island is accidentally hit.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Baroness Hayman)There are no statutory requirements requiring kerbs to be at a specific height. It is for the local highway authority to determine the appropriate height according to the circumstances of the location.
British Standard 7263: Parts 1 and 2: 1990 provide advice on the specification for precast concrete kerbs, and a code of practice for laying. The code of practice shows a typical section through a paved footway and kerb, which indicates a kerb height above the adjacent carriageway of 125mm. However, in older street layouts it is not uncommon to have kerb heights much greater than this.
We have received no evidence that the use of higher kerb heights has increased the severity of accidents, and consequently have not undertaken any studies of the accident implications.