Roads: Road Safety

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Monday 1st July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff]

My Lords, in the light of the 10% increase in deaths and the 4% increase in serious injuries in the past year in cycle accidents, will the Government consider a 20 miles per hour limit in certain urban areas? What are the Government doing to work with border agencies on the issue of drivers coming from outside the UK whose mirrors are positioned so that they cannot see cyclists on the road? I refer in particular to the drivers of lorries coming from Europe.

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the department has made it simpler for councils to put in 20 miles per hour zones and limits and to install so-called Trixi mirrors to improve the visibility of cyclists at junctions. One of the problems is that sometimes a lorry driver cannot see a cyclist. I do not think that the problems with cyclists in London involve foreign trucks. There are issues with left-hand drive trucks causing accidents, particularly on motorways, but I have not been told that they cause problems for cyclists.

Driving: Blood Alcohol Limit

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, I am not sure regarding those under 21. The key figure is 280 drink-related fatalities per year.

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff]

My Lords, will the Minister explain what the measures are to improve the safety of young drivers which he alluded to in his first response?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, we are considering all possible options at the moment to continue the downward trend.

Crime: Drink-driving

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Monday 8th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the difficulty with random testing is that it would not achieve the desired result. The object of random testing is to create an expectation among drivers but that would fail to produce results if not backed by raising the actual level of testing. This would not be cost-effective or a justified use of police resources in the current economic climate, because if most of these tests were random, they would prove to be negative.

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff]

Can the Government explain why they have not considered lowering the limit from 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood down to 50 or lower to bring us into line with the rest of Europe and most of the rest of the world? Why have they not considered a zero tolerance to alcohol, given that a survey by Brake showed that more than one in four people were driving the day after having consumed large amounts of alcohol and were almost certainly above the limit, although not formally tested?

Olympic Games: Security

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Thursday 12th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

I certainly share my noble friend’s view of our Armed Forces. We are all in their debt for the way in which, from time to time, they step in and take control of situations. My noble friend is absolutely right to make that point and we keep that very much in mind. On this specific issue—notwithstanding the points that the noble and gallant Lord, Lord Stirrup, made a few moments ago—the involvement of the military at the Olympics has always been planned for. Some contingency was built in to our expectations and we are deploying that contingency in order to ensure that we meet our security needs. However, the manner in which we have carried out our decision on this has not been in any way short of what I would have expected it to be. As to the noble Lord’s point about contracts, I will take that on board. I remind him, again, that this contract is not with the Home Office; it is with LOCOG. None the less, he makes some powerful points and I will give them consideration.

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff]

My Lords, given that the first consideration of security is to prevent an event happening and that the second one is that if an event does occur, people are kept as safe as possible, will the Minister undertake to verify that there is co-ordination with all the emergency services, particularly with the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance, which is a charity? Will the Minister inform the House whether there has been consideration of supplying a second helicopter to London’s Air Ambulance over the period of the Games? It has only one helicopter for a population of 10 million and we have a large increase in the number of people coming in. During the 7/7 bombings inquest, its important role in rescue was highlighted. If anything happens, the air ambulance will be critical to survival.

[Baroness Stowell of Beeston]

Co-ordination of the emergency services is, of course, essential and arrangements are in place to ensure proper co-ordination. As to the noble Baroness’s question about a second helicopter, I am afraid that I do not have the answer, but I will write to her.

Roads: Cyclists

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff Excerpts

Wednesday 13th October 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, the noble Lord will be fully aware that this Government are concerned about the overapplication of health and safety regulations.

[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff]

Does the Minister have any information on how many accidents occur at dusk and at night to cyclists who have no lights or high-visibility jackets?

[Earl Attlee]

My Lords, it is a legal requirement to have a rear light, a rear reflector and a front light. It is not a legal requirement to carry reflective clothing, but the Highway Code recommends that proper clothes—reflective clothes at night and fluorescent clothes during the day—are worn at all times when riding a bike.