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Road Transport Activities In Parliament

19th April 1932, Page 48
19th April 1932
Page 48
Page 48, 19th April 1932 — Road Transport Activities In Parliament
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

By Our Special Parliamentary Correspondent

Rail-Road Committee. THE suggestion has been made that the whole of the proceedings and findings of the railway and road committee should be published, but the Minister of Transport has indicated that he does not suppose that the conference will keep any detailed record of its proceedings, nor does he think it desirable that it should be fettered by any undertaking that the proceedings should be made public. It is, however, his present intention to publish any findings that the conference may submit to him.

Success of Traffic Signals.

IT is officially stated that the Electromatic signals erected at Cornhill, London, which were brought into operation on March 15th, are working satisfactorily. Up to April 4th there had been no accidents involving injury to persons, but there were three cases of collision between vehicles.

With regard to the automatic traffic signals erected at London Road, Nor. bury, Surrey, which are operated by pedestrians themselves, they are an experiment.

Liability for Mishaps.

ATTENTION was called by Mr. R. T. Evans to the hardships created in a number of cases through the inability of victims of negligent driving or their dependants to claim damages owing to the death of the drivers, and he suggested the introduction of legislation to provide protection for future victims.

Mr. Pybus said he could not see his way to introduce legislation, which would involve an alteration in the Common Law in its application to a particular class of accident. He added that the position was fully explained in Committee on the Road Traffic Bill by the then Solicitor-General.

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• Heavy Vehicles and Road Accidents.

-urR. MABANE asked how many per1.1`l sons had been killed or injured, in the Metropolitan Area, in road accidents in which heavy road vehicles had been involved, between January 1st, 1932, and March 10th, 1932.

Sir H. Samuel stated that the figures were :—Prom January 1st to March 10th, 104 killed and 2,148 injured, and from March 11th to April 2nd, 29 killed and 471 injured. Although the period was too short to enable any definite conclusion to be drawn, it was satisfactory to know that this indicated a reduction of about one-sixth in the rate of fatal accidents and of about one-third in the other case.

Mr. Mebane wanted to know whether these figures could be considered satisfactory, and the Home Secretary replied that it depended on the member's point of view with regard to over-population of the country.

Plain-clothes Police : A Misapprehension.

THE Home Secretary was asked in what circumstances plain-clothes policemen were employed to control motor traffic, and he took the opportunity for removing a misapprehension which appeared to exist in some quarters that plain-clothes police were used

to stop motor vehicles. He said the police employed for this purpose in the Metropolitan Police District were always in uniform, and he understood that the same practice obtained in the county and the borough forces.

Efficient Destination Signs.

A'what recent steps had been taken to ensure that the places of destination were marked plainly on the front of buses licensed in London, the Home Secretary, Sir H. Samuel, said that, when on service, all such vehicles had their destinations plainly displayed at the front. He understood that more than nine-tenths also carried routs boards, and steps were being taken for the remainder to be so fitted. It was expected that this equipment would be complete by August next.

Hospitals and Accidents.

MR. PYBUS was asked by Sir John Haslam for information as to the cost to hospitals, during 1931, of treating motor-accident cases and as to the proportion of such cost recovered by them under the Road Traffic Act, but he was unable to provide the information.

Sir J. Haslam requested that inquiries should be made, because those who were interested in hospitals knew that the receipts were infinitesimal as compared to the cost to the hospitals, and a different state of affairs had been expected when the Act was passed. Mr. Pybus said he was entirely sympathetic, but the information was extremely difficult to procure, although he would try again.

At a later stage, Sir John Haslam stated that, according to the British Medical Association, 7,326 motor accidents were treated in 135 hospitals, during 1931, incurring a total cost to the hospitals of £64,132 and the claims repaid under the Road Traffic Act amounted to £6,575, or about 10 per cent.

A Welsh Proposal.

AREQUEST by Major Owen that the regulations under the Road Traffic Act should ba published in the Welsh language has been refused by the Minister of Transport, who, is not aware of any precedent for the publication of statutory Rules and Orders in the Welsh language and sees no sufficient reason for initiating a change of practice in the case of the regulations referred to.


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