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Road Safety Bill [Lords]

I do agree. I hope that in addition, the hon. Lady will agree with me that to have a 20 mph speed limit in force during the six or eight weeks when a school is on holiday is not the way to proceed. We should focus the speed limit on when children are likely to want to cross the highway. That will send a message to the driver that he is approaching the school at a dangerous time and should slow down. Traffic calming is something else that we could address during the passage of the Bill. I would like the Government to announce that it is their policy to phase out speed humps, which are widely discredited. I think that the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) introduced a 10-minute rule Bill on that matter fairly recently. Chicanes, build-outs and electronic warning signs all have their place, but speed humps are a menace and are increasingly seen as such. I would like to share with the House a report in The Daily Telegraph on 8 October last year. Under the headline, ““Bus passenger paralysed by speed bump””, the article said:"““A bus passenger has been paralysed after damaging his spine as the vehicle drove over a speed bump.""Neil Price, 53, an electrical retailer, of Kendal, Cumbria, was travelling on a Stagecoach bus in Dalton-in-Furness. He is now in the Royal Preston Hospital with two broken vertebrae and a damaged spinal cord. Doctors have told him it will be two or three weeks before they know whether he will walk again.””" There is also an article that I managed to pick up off the internet, so I am not sure that the named author is the actual author, but it reinforces the point. Under the headline ““Speed Humps are a Curse””, it reinforces the point:"Paramedics are warning that speed humps are killing hundreds of people a year by increasing ambulance response times.””" It goes on to quote the chairman of the London Ambulance Service as saying that more lives are lost through delays caused by speed humps and other measures than are saved by them. The article goes on:"““Emergency services chiefs have also criticised Councils for introducing speed humps without any apparent consideration of their adverse effects. Two firefighters in America suffered spinal injuries in separate incidents when they hit their heads on the cab roof as their vehicle went over a hump.""Speed humps are by far the worst form of traffic calming because they damage vehicle suspension systems and are also dangerous for those travelling in an ambulance who may have spinal or other injuries . . . Austrian researchers found that exhaust pollution can soar tenfold as drivers accelerate away from humps.""The humps can also increase road noise if . . . heavy vehicles are crossing them.””" The article concludes with a comment by an RAC spokesman:"““About six months after the humps are installed, people generally come back and say that it has caused problems with the amount of noise . . . and pollution. A few months after these humps are introduced, most people want to get rid of them””." Given the advent of new technologies, I hope that Ministers will look into different ways of calming traffic. A number of villages in my constituency have the benefit of flashing electronic signs, some of which are powered by wind; they have a fan on top that recharges the batteries. They are excellent and shock motorists when they flash. Many motorists do not know that they are there, and to judge by what I have observed from the pavement as they approach them, they seem to have the desired deterrent effect without the negative effects of speed humps. Planning guidance should also be regarded as relevant to road safety. There are far too many congested roads and vehicles parked on pavements and blocking access points, thereby causing delay and holding up emergency vehicles. During my visit to Leicester, to which I referred earlier, I read in the excellent Leicester Mercury that Blaby district council is going to lay down ““concrete grass””. It is setting aside"““£20,000 to expand parking areas . . . by putting down a surface of concrete with holes through which grass can grow.""The council said the scheme was in response to problems with housing developments built without adequate parking facilities or garage space.””" It is ridiculous in this day and age that planners are allowing developers to build houses without any off-street accommodation for the motor car. People do not need a triple, double or even single garage for their car; all that they need is a piece of land 18 ft x 6 ft and a dropped kerb. That would reduce road congestion and eliminate the danger that pedestrians face as they negotiate parked cars with two wheels on the pavement. Planners ought to be telling developers, ““Unless you make provision for the motor car, you won’t get your planning permission.”” I hope that the Minister will speak to his colleagues in another Department and see whether they can be sold on this idea, which would make a huge difference. My final point about road safety and matters outwith the Bill concerns British summer time. It about time we ended the annual ritual of putting our clocks back every October, mainly to appease a handful of Scots. The evidence in favour of such a change is overwhelming.