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Road Safety Bill [Lords]

That is a helpful intervention. Any sort of training or driving course is a good idea. However, it should not be viewed as a punishment, but a sensible action and a progression from the basic test. It should be like getting scout badges, with the benefit of reduced insurance. However, that is the sort of detail that we could discuss further in Committee. Looking at the clock, I see that I am beginning to run out of road, but I should like to make a couple of other points. The prohibition on the use of hand-held mobile phones while stationary in a traffic jam is absurd and we would like to raise that in Committee. There are safety gains to allowing people to use their phones in such circumstances. For example, a carer for an elderly person or a young child waiting to be picked up at school may need to be contacted or make contact. If the car is stationary with the hand brake on, or if it is in park, I do not understand why the phone should not be used. Motor cyclists should be allowed to use bus lanes. I do not understand why they would interfere with their function for buses. We would like to probe that in Committee. We are behind the Government in trying to improve road safety and we will co-operate in every way to introduce sensible and workable provisions. However, we want to improve the Bill. We will try to toughen some aspects and restore the balance in road safety regulation to ensure that ordinary people who happen to drive cars are fully engaged and committed to and co-operative in the urgent and vital task of reducing the carnage on our roads.