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Safety is high on Labour list

14th November 1996
Page 14
Page 14, 14th November 1996 — Safety is high on Labour list
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by Karen Miles • Truck road safety will become a priority at the Department of Transport if Labour gains power, shadow Transport Minister Glenda Jackson said at a policy conference last week.

She says a Labour government would be committed to improving commercial vehicle road safety by examining the resources of the Vehicle Inspectorate.

"This is an area which has to be examined and with some speed," she says. "Resources have been cut, the Vehicle Inspectorate cut and Traffic Commissioners have been moved out of areas."

A Labour administration would not guarantee to implement all the recent recommendations from the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee on eradicating cowboy truck operators but Jackson says that Labour is broadly in favour of the report.

She also signalled that Labour is interested in allowing the decriminalisation of more offences so local authorities could levy their own fines and put the money into improving public transport and reducing congestion.

Jackson added that some London boroughs are already bypassing the Treasury by imposing a range of civil fines for parking offences and putting the money into providing pensioners with public transport travel cards.

David Starkie, an adviser to the Transport Select Conunittee, told the conference that—unlike air and rail transport—a "gross infringement of regulations" was tolerated from road transport operators. He called for a dedicated traffic police force, speed limiters on vans and vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes, and more enforcement to prevent overloading.


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