Commons Questions
Page 11
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DURING the three nationwide surveys this summer 83,000 diesel-engined goods vehicles were observed, and 9,800 of them were emitting black smoke. Stating this in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr. Marples said 132 were taken out of service immediately and 3,900 were threatened with prohibition unless they later satisfied a second test. In addition, 4;000 warning letters were sent,
Regulations are being prepared to give effect to the reconuneridations on noise levels and roadside tests produced by the Committee on the Problem of Noise from • Motor Vehicles. Mr. Marples added that his proposals would he sent out to interested bodies in the near future for consultation.
A complaint that officials of the Potato Marketing Board had been stopping goods vehicles on the public highway in order to interrogate their drivers Was made. Captain H. B. Kerby (Tory, Arundel and Shoreham), who raised the matter, asked Mr. Marples whether he had authorized this action and was told " No ". The Minister said he had no evidence that the Board had sought to stop vehicles in this way.
No, immediate decision can be expected about the control of the brilliance of traffic indicators. Mr. Marples said that before deciding whether regulatory action would be desirable, he preferred to await the conclusions of the working -party of European experts who were examining the question of the light intensity of direction indicators: This group had not yet made its recommendations to the European Economic Commission's sub-committee on road transport.
Mr. Marples is not greatly attracted by the idea of continuous double white lines on alternate sides of all three-lane roads. He feared that this would result in their being disregarded by drivers when there was little traffic from the opposite direction, he said, when the suggestion was put to him. "It Would not be in the interests of safety generally to bring the double white line system as a whole into disrepute in this way" explained the Minister.
Additional Vehicle A WITNESS who supported an appli-1-1 cation for an additional vehicle at Macclesfield last Tuesday, told of a consignment which had been sub-contracted twice, and of the resulting delay. She was Miss K. Drinkwater, a distribution officer of Fisons Foods Ltd., and supported G. Plant (Haulage Contractors) Ltd., who wanted a new A-licensed vehicle of 44 tons to carry: "foodstuffs, textiles, machinery, turf equipment, castings, paper; Lancashire, Cheshire, South Wales, London area, Bristol and Southampton ".
The managing director of the applicant company, Mr. G. Plant, said that he had to do most of his trans-shipping at night, and then it was very difficult to obtain casual labour. The new A vehicles would ease this situation considerably.
The application was granted.