Larger Lights for Commercials
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LARGER rear lights, stop lights and L. compulsory "flashers" were forecast this week by Mr. Stephen Swingler, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport.
Speaking at the end of a short Commons debate, he said that rear lights on lorries were to be increased to nearly four times their present size and stop lights were to he compulsory on all vehicles.
At present, said Mr. Swingler, the required area for rear lights on commercial vehicles was 3,1 sq. in. The Ministry was now thinking in terms of 12 sq. in. as the standard and was also proposing to improve the standard.
Mr. Swingler added that stop lights and flashing indicators might have different intensities for day and night use.
Mr. Swingler noted that this country was considering, together with members of the road transport committee of the ECE. whether there was a need for vehicles shorter than 60 ft. to carry lights or reflectors at the side.
The debate had been opened by Mr. John .Page (Cons., Harrow West) who claimed that at least one out of every three commercial vehicles had defective lighting. One reason, he said, was that the lights were not strongly enough manufactured—the brackets on which they were put were not really rugged enough to stand up to the job they had to do.
He said that on that day while on the Ml, out of 46 lorries he passed, eight had rear lights or reflectors either broken or missing, some with flex hanging down and 10 others had lights so badly obscured by mud or diesel exhaust slime as to have been inefficient in their jobs.
At a transport café in Watford he and friends were staggered by the bad condition of some of the lighting of vehicles in the car park. It was not just on the very rough vehicles, the sand and gravel lorries, but also on some very Rood vehicles owned by reputable companies, he asserted.
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