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Road Safety Bill [Lords]

When the Secretary of State opened the debate he pointed out that the national road safety figures were improving, which is welcome—but unfortunately, in my constituency they are doing anything but that. Last year there were 20 road fatalities—about four times the national average—and this year, sadly, there have already been four deaths. It is only March, yet we are already approaching the national yearly average, so it would be gratifying if the number did not increase at all this year. There is a mixture of reasons for those accidents. The coroner has not yet reported on many cases so we cannot talk about them, but in one accident involving young drivers the report has been made and the cause was drink-related excessive speed. My constituents were affected particularly by the prevalence of multiple fatalities, especially of younger drivers, and I shall discuss some of the remedies to prevent such accidents. One good thing that came out of those tragedies was the good response of the local community. Mike Webb and Jimmy Martin, driving instructors and members of the Forest and Wye Valley Driving Instructors Association, have put together, in their own time, an excellent presentation, which they have been taking to schools in the area, to get through to youngsters the importance of safe and careful driving, to try to save lives. They have been working with the fire and rescue service, the police and the county council’s road safety team. I am pleased that the county council has targeted highway improvements in its budget plans for future years, to ensure that our roads are safer. Local authorities will be bidding for road safety grants from the Department for Transport and it is worth noting that there are some straightforward physical changes that can be made, especially in rural areas—for example, the proper installation of road drainage. In Gloucestershire county council’s new contract, drainage will be a key performance indicator. It is important to make sure that there is no surface water on roads, as it appears to have been a factor in at least one of the casualties last year. The Secretary of State mentioned the number of accidents that do not involve another vehicle. In my rural constituency, a number of fatalities occur when people lose control of their vehicle and hit a sizeable roadside tree. The county council is looking into the idea of cutting back trees, which will have several benefits. It will improve visibility, reduce ice cover—because the road will not be in shade—allow boundary features and road signs to be more visible, and provide more space for horse riders to get off the road if necessary. Neither measure—proper road cleaning or control of vegetation—would cost much. When we consider the financial costs of a road fatality, quite apart from anything else, such investment is sensible. The Bill includes proposals for road safety grants, for which local authorities will bid and which the Department will award based on the road casualty figures and the quality of the local authority’s casualty reduction plan. I welcome the proposal for the grants. My only plea to the Minister is that the application and assessment process should not be painful for local authorities, or require huge amounts of bureaucracy. Furthermore, given the variety of road safety performance and geographical area, as well as the nature of the road network, there should be significant local flexibility when assessing casualty reduction plans. After all, local people have a much better idea of what needs to be done to improve road safety in their area. The hon. Member for Northampton, North (Ms Keeble) touched on the statistics about young drivers, noting that young men account for only about 4 per cent. of the driving population, but for more than 30 per cent. of dangerous driving convictions. It is clear from the various meetings that we had following road accidents in my constituency, with young drivers in particular, that we need to do more than provide education and training in the theory and practice of driving. We should bear in mind the attitudes that young males bring to driving. For one thing, they think that they are invincible; unfortunately, when they discover that they are not it is often too late, and they, or others, pay the price. There are also societal factors. Young men are influenced by, for instance, magazines that emphasise the attractiveness of speed. We need to combat such influences. I am trying to persuade the emergency and education services in Gloucestershire to adopt a scheme that has been successful in Surrey, called Safe Drive Stay Alive. It was the idea of a Surrey firefighter, Rob Green, who was the victim of an accident caused by a speeding uninsured young driver. The Bill may help to prevent such accidents. The driver hit Rob Green and his wife when they were travelling on a motor cycle. Sadly, Mrs. Green was killed, and her husband lost both legs and suffered severe burns. When he returned to work, he developed the idea of a touring performance for young people approaching, and reaching, the legal driving age of 17. The first event was staged in Dorking. Groups of sixth-formers were bussed to a venue several times a day to see a production involving a filmed reconstruction of a genuine road accident in which a young person had been killed and others severely injured. The film used all the emergency services, and was shockingly realistic. I viewed it on a DVD with which I was supplied. Following the screening, the audience was addressed by the emergency service personnel who had been involved in the original accident: the firefighter who cut the passengers free, the paramedic who was first on the scene, the doctor who pronounced the young person dead, the policeman who had to visit her parents, and the victim of another road accident who had ended up confined to a wheelchair. Apparently the effect on the audience was profound. Subsequent research confirmed that the event had changed the young people’s attitudes to driving, and made a noticeable difference to the way in which they conducted themselves. As I have said, I am encouraging the relevant authorities in Gloucestershire to adopt that idea. I should like the Minister to think about it as well. If such programmes are bid for as part of the road safety grant arrangements, he may consider it appropriate to fund them.