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Road Safety Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord   Bradshaw, for introducing the amendment. I am not happy with some of his arguments about motorways and vehicle safety but his amendment builds on my Amendments Nos. 87 to 89, which were not quite properly drafted. I believe that the noble Lord’s amendments taken together provide for penalty points. The legislation is weak in this area. It is obvious that   seat belts save lives. The noble Lord talked about   improvements in car design but overlooked improvements and comfort in seat belt design. The seat belts in an early Land Rover were static and worse than useless but seat belts are now brilliantly designed and have many clever features. Motorists do not care about small fines. The noble Lord talked about the £30 fine, which is considerably smaller than the one you would acquire if you forgot   to pay the congestion charge. Penalty points concentrate the mind very well. If drivers are prepared to expose themselves and their youngsters to a totally unnecessary risk of severe injury, they must put their licence in jeopardy. The noble Lord talked about unrestrained drivers. A particular problem arises with lorry drivers. If they are involved in a relatively minor accident they can get   thrown from their driving seat and go on to be involved in a devastating accident because they can no longer fully control the vehicle. We should ensure that lorry drivers always wear seat belts, when fitted.