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Road Safety Bill [Lords]

The appropriate time to consider the issue would be during the debates in Committee, which will probably take place in a couple of weeks’ time, although I am not sure when we will reach that part of the Bill. Such a time scale would allow a proper debate to take place in Committee, and the House could then deal with the issue on Report if necessary. That is probably the best thing to do. Just before I sit down, it is worth returning to the overall point. The road safety record in this country is good, but it obviously needs to get better. I am glad that the number of traffic police on the roads has increased in the past couple of years or so. I remind the House that the traffic officers for which the Highways Agency is responsible are now on most parts of the network, and almost 1,000 of them will be fully operational by the summer. They are already proving their worth, by helping to clear up after accidents, removing debris from the roads and attending to people whose vehicles have broken down. That also helps to improve road safety. I am sure that the Bill contains measures that will make a difference. No doubt, further representations on further necessary measures will be made, and the Government will, of course, listen to them. Anything that we can do to improve road safety and the quality of driving on our roads must be supported, and on that basis, I commend the Bill to the House.