Transport: Health
Dr Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department of the recommendations of the British Medical Association report entitled Healthy transport = Healthy lives. [118102]
Norman Baker: I welcome the British Medical Association’s report which makes the case for closer integration between transport and health policy. The Department for Transport works with the Department of Health and local authorities to ensure transport policies help deliver health and wellbeing goals wherever possible. Our £600 million Local Sustainable Transport Fund is supporting improvements across the country for public transport users, cyclists and pedestrians, with almost all of the approved packages including measures to increase active travel. We are also working with the National Institute of Clinical Excellence and others to support local authorities in aligning transport and health policies in advance of the devolution of public health responsibilities in 2013. In this context, I wrote to the British Medical Association on 2 August to outline our current work and offer assistance in disseminating their conclusions to local authorities.
Cycling: Safety
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which (a) Ministers, (b) officials and (c) special advisers in her Department have attended each of the cycle safety stakeholder forums since their creation; and when the forums will next meet. [118414]
Mike Penning: The Cycle Safety Stakeholder Group is a sub-group of the Cycling Stakeholder Forum. Issues of significance raised at the Cycle Safety Stakeholder Group are promulgated to the Cycling Stakeholder Forum. Ministers have been present at all three meetings of the Cycling Stakeholder Forum. The safety sub-group met on 6 March 2012, 19 March 2012 and 15 May 2012. The DfT was represented at official level at all three meetings. The next Cycle Safety Stakeholder Group is due to meet in November 2012.
Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans her Department has to produce a strategy for cycle safety. [118415]
Mike Penning: The Government’s approach to road safety is set out in the White Paper: “Strategic Framework for Road Safety”, and this sets out our approach to continuing to reduce casualties on Britain’s roads. We are currently working with stakeholders through both the Cycling Stakeholder Forum and Cycle Safety Stakeholder Forum; and the Safety Forum is currently working on a list of ideas and actions to propose to Ministers.
Driving: Diabetes
Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is taking to publicise the changes to the standards for drivers with diabetes mellitus in applying for a licence to drive lorries and buses. [118047]
Mike Penning: Information about the changes to medical standards for drivers with diabetes mellitus has been provided to diabetes interest groups, the press, road haulage and passenger transport industries and featured on both the DVLA and DirectGov websites. Detailed information was also provided to relevant health care professionals so that they could advise patients on changes to the medical standards for driving.
Automatic Number Plate Recognition
Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of automatic number plate recognition cameras in operation by region. [119225]
Stephen Hammond: The Department for Transport does not hold information of the total number of automatic number plate recognition cameras in operation by region.
Automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) are operated mainly by police forces, the Highways Agency and the DVLA.
The Highways Agency operates 1,100 ANPR cameras at 736 decision points on the network for the purposes of traffic management. A list of camera deployment locations can be found at:
http://www.highways.gov.uk/aboutus/documents/CRS_605073_ANPR_camera_locations_by_journey_time_section.pdf
Cycling: Helmets
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the potential safety benefits of making it compulsory for cyclists to wear helmets; and if he will make a statement. [118645]
Norman Baker: The Department commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to review the evidence on helmet wearing and a link to their 2009 report (TRL report 446 “The potential for cycle helmets to prevent injury”) can be found at:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/publications/research-and-statistical-reports
The main focus of the TRL report was on the effectiveness of cycle helmets in the event of an accident. The report also undertook a literature review for its real life outcomes, but concluded that it was not possible to quantify the scale, if any, of real life benefit.
Gordon Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he has considered bringing forward proposals to make compulsory the wearing of helmets by cyclists. [118802]
Norman Baker: We have no plans to make the wearing of cycle helmets compulsory. In line with the Highway Code rule 59, we encourage their use by all cyclists and in particular by children.
Motorcycles: Accidents
Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people using quad bikes who have been (a) killed and (b) injured (i) on the highway and (ii) off-road in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [119790]
(2) if he will make it his policy that quad bikes should not be permitted to use the highway without the vehicle being licensed and the driver (a) holding a driving licence and (b) third party insurance; and if he will make a statement. [119811]
Stephen Hammond: It is already the case that quad bikes must fully meet type approval, registration and vehicle excise statutory requirements before being used on the highway. The rider must also hold the relevant category of driving licence which will depend on the size and weight of the bike and must have at least third party insurance for use on the roads.
The information requested on quad bike accidents cannot be identified separately. Quad bikes involved in reported personal injury accidents are recorded as part of the ‘other motor vehicle’ category along with vehicles such as ambulances, fire engines, road maintenance vehicles and motorised wheel chairs.
Furthermore, information for accidents on private roads or car parks or off-road is not held by the Department.
Roads: Safety
Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to reduce the number of road casualties. [119628]
Stephen Hammond: Since the publication of the Strategic Framework for Road Safety in May 2011, the Department has taken a number of the steps to reduce the number of road casualties, as envisaged in the framework. They include steps on all three of the thematic chapters of the framework.
Firstly on ‘improving road safety together’, the road safety comparison site, road safety observatory, speed limit assessment tool and a revised speed limit circular are all well advanced and on track for completion during the next few months.
Secondly on ‘education’ we have already made changes to the driving tests and changes to the educational scheme for drink drive offenders are progressing towards implementation.
Thirdly on ‘targeted enforcement and sanctions’, we have consulted about the introduction of fixed penalty notices for careless driving and increased penalty fines. The bill containing enabling legislation to create a new specific drug driving offence is being considered in the House of Lords.
Motorcycles: Young People
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reason he plans to place restrictions on the types of motorcycles which may be ridden by 17 to 20 year olds but not on the types of cars they may drive; and if he will make a statement. [119891]
Stephen Hammond: Member states are currently governed by the Second Directive on Driving Licences, adopted in 1991. In essence, this provided for mutual recognition of driving licences between EU states, the harmonisation of the licence categories and harmonisation of driving test standards. The Third Directive on Driving Licences (2006/126/EC) was adopted in 2006 and comes fully into effect on 19 January 2013. Its provisions have been transposed into law through the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 and laid before Parliament on 30 March 2012.
The Third Directive makes further change to achieve greater harmonisation across the EU within a specified timeframe. The main changes impact on definitions of vehicle categories (including motorcycles) and sub-categories, the rules on the duration of the validity of a licence, minimum standards for driving examiners and attempts to ensure that no one can at any one time possess more than one licence issued by an EU state.
It introduces new categories for motorcycles which will apply from 19 January 2013. There are new categories for mopeds, and small, medium and unlimited size motorbikes—Categories AM, A1, A2 and A respectively. Under the provisions a rider can progress from a smaller to a larger bike:
Through stages (“staged access”) for example at age 17 with entitlement to Category A1 gaining two years experience and then applying for Category A2), gaining a further two years experience at Category A2 and then applying for Category A (unrestricted access to any size bike).
Through “direct access”—that is waiting until they meet the minimum age for a specific category. Through this route, direct access to Category A riders must be at least age 24.
Or a combination of both.
The changes in the minimum age for motorcycle categories are shown in the following table.
Roads: Accidents
Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicle collisions were
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reported in the most recent five years for which figures are available; how many such collisions resulted in
(a) death and
(b) injury; and how many persons considered responsible for such collisions there were in each age group in each such year. [119727]
Stephen Hammond: Information collected by the Department on road accidents in Great Britain is limited to accidents reported to the police and where at least one person sustained an injury. Therefore, there is no information on the total number of vehicle collisions.
The information requested on reported road collisions, in Great Britain, for the last five years for which data is available is provided in the following table:
| Number | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Collisions involving at least one fatality | Only injured (1) casualties | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) Injured includes all casualties who sustained either a serious or slight injury in a road accident.Information on persons considered responsible for these reported collisions is not held by the Department. However, information is available on the number of reported personal injury road accidents involving a motor vehicle driver by age of the driver. This information is presented for each of the last five years for which data is available, in the following table:
|
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