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Road Safety Bill [HL]

I have half a sympathy with Amendment No. 77. It sounds good, but I would not want it to reach such a point that signs proliferated and there were too many of them. The answer to that would be to have signs on the road, something to which the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, referred. Signs painted on the road are easier, particularly as we are talking about areas that are lit. That point has been made. When one is driving, they are much easier, as the road is in vision all the time. A repeat sign painted on the road would be less expensive to maintain and would be clear and helpful. On Amendment No. 78, I puzzled about a village in a different way from my noble friend Lord Lyell. It seems to me that there is no maximum number of houses for a village. A major metropolis could be labelled as a village. A definition of ““village”” is necessary. The amendment says ““20 or more houses””. There might be blocks of flats—which would not be houses, but dwellings—and it could be a built-up area.