HC Deb 31 January 2002 vol 379 cc448-9W
Bob Russell

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with operators of commercial fleets and other bodies on the level of road crashes involving their vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31484]

Mr. Jamieson

The Department meets and corresponds with representatives of operators of commercial fleets and others on a regular basis on a wide range of issues. The Work-related Road Safety Task Group consulted the industry and its representatives last year on at-work road safety issues. The task group's report was published on 22 November 2001 and the Government are now considering the recommendations.

Bob Russell

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent studies he has commissioned to establish the number of road crashes involving company driven vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31482]

Mr. Jamieson

The Work-related Road Safety Task Group considered the nature and scale of at-work road traffic incidents. The group commissioned research by the Business Strategy Group and their report, published on 22 November 2001, summarises the findings of that and other related research projects. The report may be viewed on the Health and Safety Executive's website at www.house.gov.uk/road/content.traffic1/pdf. Details of the research are set out in Annexe 3.

Bob Russell

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make it a requirement for drivers of company cars and vans to undertake additional driver training; and if he will make a statement. [31493]

Mr. Jamieson

The Government support high quality training for all drivers and are working with the training industry to ensure that those offering the training have the right skills. We have no plans to introduce compulsory training for company car or van drivers.

Bob Russell

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will apply to drivers of company cars and vans the safety time limits for driving applied to heavy goods vehicles; and if he will make a statement. [31481]

Mr. Jamieson

There are no plans for legislation to restrict the number of driving hours by company car users. Drivers of goods vehicles under 3.5 tonnes operate under the UK domestic drivers' hours legislation as they are specifically exempted from European Union (EU) drivers' hours rules.

We announced plans in the Transport White Paper to consult on the possible repeal of the UK drivers' hours rules, in favour of the EU rules. Unfortunately these plans had to be put on hold pending the outcome of discussions on the draft EU directive extending working time limits to mobile workers in the road transport industry. While the terms of this directive have now been agreed and are expected to be published in April, there is now a draft European Commission proposal to amend the EU drivers' hours rules themselves on which we have just gone out to consultation.