Queen’s Speech

Viscount Simon Excerpts

Wednesday 25th May 2016 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Simon (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord says that the Government do not want to tell people what to do. I am afraid that I will discuss matters not covered in the gracious Speech where people should be told what to do.

The topic raised more than any other by members of GEM Motoring Assist is the lack of traffic law enforcement on our roads. Many of them think that the move towards automatic enforcement of speed and so on is not matched by enforcement regarding other aspects of bad driving. The recent Transport Select Committee report on roads policing stated that the number of specialised roads policing officers has fallen from 7,104 to 4,356 in the decade starting in 2005. That is a reduction of 38.6% and leads me to state that the number of cars exceeding 100 miles an hour on motorways is quite extraordinary. However, they drive at these speeds in the knowledge that the chances of being stopped are quite remote.

One of my two amendments to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act that were accepted concerned the evidential roadside breath testing kit. It must be about 10 years since this was accepted, but the Home Office has yet to complete type approval of this equipment. This is in contrast to the extremely quick approval of the quite expensive saliva-testing equipment that screens for certain drugs and illegal substances. I just wonder whether the Department for Transport has plans to develop screening equipment for other drugs. Efforts have been made to reduce the legal drink-drive limit to 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres. It is calculated that, if this were done, 25 lives and 95 serious injuries would be saved annually. Can the Government explain why a reduction in the drink-drive limit would be at odds with the current efforts to reduce drink-driving?

There is clear evidence that drivers using mobile phones while driving, both hands-free or hands-held, do so at serious risk to themselves and other road users because of distraction. The person phoning a driver has no idea about the traffic conditions that could cause distraction. I would be delighted if the Government discouraged the use of all phones in cars. Thinking of mobile phones, a large amount of legislation could be changed to allow digitalisation in certain circumstances in order to assist police officers in their duties that currently can be unnecessarily time-consuming.

At the moment, there is a lack of protection for police officers engaged in the pursuit of other vehicles. Tim Rogers of the Police Federation of England and Wales said:

“How concerning is it that, even when driving with advanced training, given and licensed by the College of Policing, our officers are still vulnerable to criminal liability, just for trying to keep communities safe?”.

Protection for officers doing their jobs requires a change in legislation to ensure that they have the confidence to do their job without the fear of being prosecuted in certain circumstances.

There have been numerous changes in how the police operate, and all forces have had to make adjustments due to the funding formula. I wonder whether that now meets the needs of communities across the country. I have my doubts.

Finally, from today, drivers and others are invited to go online and pledge their support for EDWARD—European Day Without A Road Death—which is due on 21 September. This is the day when police forces throughout Europe support the initiatives being promoted by this project. I hope that they are successful in their endeavours.