No Limit on Chemical Movement by Road
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Mturned R. R. A. BUTLER, the Home Secretary, last week down the suggestion that a limit should be placed on the amount of chemicals carried by road vehicles. and Use). Motor Vehicles (Construction Use) Regulations of 1955, made by the Minister of Transport, placed a limit on the laden weight of a vehicle, he said, and he had no reason to think that further action was necessary in this respect. He had been questioned in the Commons by Mr. Stan Awbery (Labour, BristolCentral), who spoke of the danger, of vehicles carrying dangerous chemicals such as nitric and sulphuric acids, and the ever-increasing size of these bulk-carrying vehicles. Mr. Awbery suggested that the Home Secretary should reduce the danger to the public by limiting the amount of such chemicals which could be carried.
Road Safety Probe
THE factors affecting road safety which are now being investigated by ry the Road Research Laboratory were outlined in the Commons last week by Mr. Denzil Freeth, the Parliamentary Secretary for Science_ They included, he said, skidding, the behaviour of vehicles during emergency braking, and when colliding with kerbs of various types and with fixed barriers
or with other vehicles. ry
In addition the Laboratory was caring out research into such traffic engineering problems as the layout of road junctions, the timing of traffic signals, control systems for junctions and the design of road signs. He told a questioner that after analysis of data from a number of countries the Laboratory had found that speed limits, although exceeded by a high Proportion of drivers, produced a major effect in reducing very high speeds. Their imposition in urban areas was usually followed by a marked reduction ' in serious accidents, but had little effect in reducing speeds just above the limit or on the number of slight accidents.
DOUBLE WHITE LINE REPORT THE Minister of Transport hopes to receive soon a report on the behaviour of drivers on roads marked with double white lines.
He said in the Commons last week that this survey was being carried out by the Road Research Laboratory, but from the information so far available it was not possible to say with any certainty what effect the double white line system had had on the accident rate.
NO DRINK NEAR MOTORWAYS
AN amendment to the Licensing Bill, seeking to ban the sale of alcohol on premises near special roads and motorways, has been tabled.