Questions answered orally in the House of Commons today: Road
Safety
(Nottingham South)
(Lab)
1. What steps his Department is taking to improve road safety.
[900500]
The Secretary of State for Transport ()
The Government are committed to improving safety on all our
roads, and to reducing the numbers of those who are needlessly
killed and injured. Last July, we published “The road safety
statement 2019: a lifetime of road safety”.
The right hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead ( ) has this week accused
Highways England of
“a shocking degree of carelessness”
in rolling out all-lane-running motorways, and the chairman of
the Police Federation has described smart motorways as
“inherently dangerous” and “a death trap”. I welcomed the
Secretary of State’s announcement of a rapid evidence stocktake,
and he promised to bring forward recommendations in a matter of
weeks, but it has now been three months. What is he going to do,
and when, to prevent further avoidable deaths?
I should like to start by thanking the hon. Lady for her sterling
work as Chair of the Select Committee on Transport, which I am
sure is recognised by all Members of the House. She is absolutely
right about that stocktake. Two things have happened. First, the
general election intervened and took up some weeks. The other
thing that has happened—I say this in all sincerity—is that I
have uncovered a range of issues that I am not content simply to
brush over. I have therefore requested further information, and
we are nearly there. In this process, I have specifically
included going back to, speaking to and in one case meeting the
families of those who have been affected by these issues. I agree
with my right hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead that
there is far too much complication in having all-lane-running
dynamic motorways—smart motorways. If the hon. Lady will forgive
me, this is taking a little longer, but I think we will get to a
much better outcome.
(Kingston upon Hull East)
(Lab)
It has been clear for some time that all-lane-running motorways
are death traps. As my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham
() has
pointed out, five people have been killed in just 10 months on a
16-mile stretch of the M1. The Secretary of State has the power
to scrap these dangerous motorways now, so will he stop this
dither and delay and act now to avoid further tragic deaths and
serious injuries? Will he also assure the House that there will
be no restoration of these motorways without full radar coverage?
As I pointed out a moment ago—perhaps after the hon. Gentleman’s
question was written—it is important that we gather all the
facts. Sadly, 1,700-plus people died on all our roads in 2018.
Motorways of the safest of those roads, but the question is: are
smart motorways less safe than the rest of the motorway network?
For me, we must make them at least as safe, if not safer,
otherwise they cannot continue. But we have to do this as a
fact-based process. I am interested, rightly, in speaking to the
families of the victims as well as to organisations such as the
AA and the RAC and to Members of this House. Forgive me, it does
take time to do this correctly, but I do not think the hon.
Gentleman will be disappointed with the results.
(Bexhill and Battle)
(Con)
I should like to join the Secretary of State in paying tribute to
the hon. Member for Nottingham South () for the
way in which she has chaired the Transport Committee over the
past two years. She has done so with great fairness, and she
probed with great diligence as well. I want to give her my thanks
for that, and she is also a wonderful friend.
When it comes to road safety, there is great concern that school
safety is at risk. Would it be possible to set up a programme of
investment so that the most dangerous schools can get the
necessary technology and 20 mph speed limits put in place? That
would also encourage the use of walking buses.
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his election as Chair of the
Select Committee. Yes, I agree with him about working with
schools. One point that is often forgotten is that local
authorities already have the power to reduce speed limits, for
example to 20 mph. I look forward to working with him as Chair of
the Committee.
(Chatham and Aylesford)
(Con)
The Secretary of State will be aware that the stretch of the M20
that runs through my constituency is due to open as an
all-lane-running motorway in March, but it does not have stopped
vehicle detection systems or appropriately spaced emergency
refuges. I appreciate that it will be frustrating for those using
it to continue to have cones and low speed limits, but does he
agree that, given the concerns about safety on all-lane-running
motorways, it should not open until all those measures have been
put in place?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who has campaigned on this issue
for a long time. That stretch of the M20, and all other stretches
that are currently being worked on, will not be opened until we
have the outcome of the stocktake.
