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Debate on bill on Monday, 9 October 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Stephen Ladyman. The answering member was Alistair Carmichael.

Road Safety Bill (HL)

Road Safety Bill (HL). Report stage. Queen's consent signified. Prince of Wales's consent signified. Third reading. Agreed to on question and passed with amendments.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
450 c50-129 
Session
2005-06
Department
Department for Transport
Legislative stage
Third reading
Report stage
Procedure
New clauses
Prince of Wales's consent
Queen's consent
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Road Safety Bill (HL). As amended in Standing Committee A
Thursday, 20 April 2006
Bills
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 450 c92 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 21—Passenger-side mirrors on H...
David Drew | 450 c92-3 (Link to this contribution) It is with a feeling of déjà vu that some of us will approach the new clause, which stands in my nam...
Show all contributions (155)
Christopher Chope | 450 c88 (Link to this contribution) We have had an excellent debate. The Minister’s was a classic ““Yes, Minister”” response. As a forme...
David Drew | 450 c92 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
David Kidney | 450 c86 (Link to this contribution) In the last nine years, we have changed the law in this place so that the Home Office can publish a ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c86-8 (Link to this contribution) I do raise that with my Home Office colleagues, and roads policing is part of the national policing ...
Owen Paterson | 450 c86 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister name the police authorities and chief constables whom he has in mind?
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c86 (Link to this contribution) No, and it is not for me to do so. I am a Kent Member of Parliament, and if I had concerns about the...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c86 (Link to this contribution) I am rather sorry that I gave way to the hon. Gentleman. He is talking absolute nonsense. The Govern...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c50 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Speaker | 450 c50 (Link to this contribution) I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s concern about the timing of today’s debate, and about the ti...
Greg Knight | 450 c50 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. As you know, this very important, wide-ranging Bill deserve...
Speaker | 450 c51 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government new clause 7—Abolition of ““con...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c51 (Link to this contribution) I hope that it is not impertinent of me to say thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for the ruling that yo...
Derek Conway | 450 c51 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt the Minister so early in his speech. He will know that there is concern amon...
Rosemary McKenna | 450 c52 (Link to this contribution) Having sat in Committee, I appreciate how much work had been done on amendments in the meantime. Mos...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c51-2 (Link to this contribution) I understand their concern. If the new clause is accepted today, there will be a consultation with a...
Rosemary McKenna | 450 c52 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has not taken into account provisions relating to causing serious injury. Penalties for...
Speaker | 450 c52 (Link to this contribution) Order. I was about to correct the hon. Lady, but she has now corrected herself.
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 450 c53 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for allowing me to intervene so early. Given that we are so keen on th...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c52-3 (Link to this contribution) I will take up those issues as we discuss the various amendments before us. There is a difference be...
Stephen Hammond | 450 c53-4 (Link to this contribution) We agree with the Government on one of the new clauses, but probably not on the other. New clause 6 ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c53 (Link to this contribution) It would be wrong for me to debate Mr. Speaker’s selection of amendments. I know that some hon. Memb...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c62 (Link to this contribution) I understand the concerns expressed and I take the issue of bridge strikes very seriously. Were we t...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 450 c62 (Link to this contribution) On bridge bashing, may I ask the Minister whether any work has been done on systems to warn drivers ...
Rob Marris | 450 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) The Minister kindly apologised to the House for tabling new clause 28 at rather short notice because...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c60-1 (Link to this contribution) That is line 6 in the copy that I have, but I fully accept that there is a typographical error. If t...
Robert Goodwill | 450 c62-3 (Link to this contribution) As an HGV driver, I am all too aware of the problems of low bridges. I am sure that the Minister agr...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c63 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a constructive suggestion, and we will certainly discuss it with Network Ra...
Rob Marris | 450 c62 (Link to this contribution) Would it not be a lot cheaper and simpler to have something 100 m from a bridge that is of the same ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c62 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point, but, again, we would not need the proposed amendments to require ...
Stephen Hammond | 450 c63 (Link to this contribution) We have again heard the Minister say that he regards the two violations as the same offence. He sure...
Christopher Chope | 450 c65 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c63-4 (Link to this contribution) The point is that the courts do have the power to deal with them. Someone who recklessly endangers t...
Christopher Chope | 450 c67 (Link to this contribution) I should say at the outset that a lot people thought that it was already an offence to be at the whe...
Speaker | 450 c65-6 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 5—Medical fitness to drive— ‘...
Christopher Chope | 450 c67 (Link to this contribution) The question of the amount of the drug is obviously a matter for mitigation, but as the hon. Gentlem...
Paul Rowen | 450 c67 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman explain what he means in his new clause by ““traces””? In dealing with other...
Jeffrey M Donaldson | 450 c68 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that in Northern Ireland—unfortunately, the road traffic accident statis...
Christopher Chope | 450 c68 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his support. Increasingly there is evidence that this i...
David Burrowes | 450 c68 (Link to this contribution) I commend the intentions behind the new clause. As a practising criminal solicitor for a number of y...
Lord Hammond of Runnymede | 450 c54 (Link to this contribution) But as we said in Committee, and as I said in my speech, these people are CRB-checked, so the case t...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c54 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is being slightly disingenuous. Were we here today debating an abuse of a vulnera...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c58 (Link to this contribution) For the simple reason that, in my view, the legislation on bridge strikes deals perfectly adequately...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c57 (Link to this contribution) I urge the House to agree the amendments, which seek to confirm that the making of level crossing or...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 450 c57-8 (Link to this contribution) Before the Minister finishes his mea culpa—and may I say that it gives one or two of us joy to see t...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c56 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Speaker | 450 c56-7 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 37—Increase of penalties for f...
Stephen Hammond | 450 c55 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is carefully—but not helpfully—intertwining the two clauses. Under the Local Government...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has misunderstood the purpose of the new clause and I accept full responsibility ...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c59 (Link to this contribution) In relation to the points made by the hon. Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond), it is indeed my i...
Stephen Hammond | 450 c58-9 (Link to this contribution) I shall certainly apologise for the failure of Members on the Treasury Bench to vote with us on thes...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 450 c60 (Link to this contribution) I have been listening very carefully, and I want to ask the hon. Gentleman a very simple question. I...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c60 (Link to this contribution) Every time I am asked about commitments of finances I hear groans from my colleagues in our Treasury...
Robert Goodwill | 450 c60 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that an amendment is made more important by the fact that some parts o...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c60 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. It is doubtless capable of remedy by operational procedu...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c60 (Link to this contribution) I give way to another objective and independent-minded arbiter.
David TC Davies | 450 c85 (Link to this contribution) The Minister might be right in saying that the police are finding it difficult to enforce the law as...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c78 (Link to this contribution) Although I want to confine the bulk of my remarks to the new clauses and amendments that my hon. Fri...
Greg Knight | 450 c78 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right to say that there is no mention in new clause 1 of the amount of the ill...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c78-9 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right; that is a perfectly fair point. However, I do not thin...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c79-81 (Link to this contribution) No, I approach this from the point of view of first principles. The reason that we arrived at what h...
Robert Syms | 450 c81-2 (Link to this contribution) I support my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) and new clause 1. Technology has mo...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c82-3 (Link to this contribution) I must take issue with the hon. Member for Poole (Mr. Syms) about the figure for road deaths being s...
Robert Goodwill | 450 c83 (Link to this contribution) Does not the Minister think that, in practice, the Crown Prosecution Service will take a view based ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c83-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point, but he is tempting us into a minefield where the courts would...
David Kidney | 450 c70 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on making his case so powerfully. There is a serious problem with ...
Christopher Chope | 450 c70 (Link to this contribution) My policy is zero tolerance on illegality. At the moment it is not illegal in this country to consum...
Christopher Chope | 450 c70-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and I hope to deal with that point. To conc...
Christopher Chope | 450 c69 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. Knowing that he sits as a part-time judge, I feel that his support ...
Peter Bone | 450 c69 (Link to this contribution) The crux of the issue is that ““The Highway Code”” has a prescribed limit for alcohol, but with rega...
Christopher Chope | 450 c69 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his support. In case anyone thinks that this is just an English ...
John Leech | 450 c70 (Link to this contribution) Given the hon. Gentleman’s position of zero tolerance on drugs, would he also support a zero-toleran...
Lee Scott | 450 c68 (Link to this contribution) Given the fact that, unfortunately, so many young people are using illegal substances, does my hon. ...
Christopher Chope | 450 c68 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his support and I agree with him 100 per cent. That is why my ri...
Humfrey Malins | 450 c69 (Link to this contribution) May I add my wholehearted support for the new clause? My hon. Friend will know that I sit as a part-...
Owen Paterson | 450 c75-7 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope) and my right hon. Friend the M...
David Kidney | 450 c74-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who echoes the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope). That cockt...
David Kidney | 450 c74 (Link to this contribution) That is a false choice. There are several areas in which we must take action to keep the trend in ro...
David Drew | 450 c74 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. The problem is that the group of people with whom we are deali...
David Kidney | 450 c73-4 (Link to this contribution) About three years ago, I chaired a conference for the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport S...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c74 (Link to this contribution) Even on the figures that my hon. Friend has given us, if 65 people had between 50 and 80 mg of alcoh...
Rob Marris | 450 c71-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a good point, but I want to return to the point raised by the hon. Memb...
Christopher Chope | 450 c72 (Link to this contribution) Many people take the view that their driving is not impaired when they are over the excess alcohol l...
Gwyneth Dunwoody | 450 c71 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully, because the hon. Gentleman has an extremely important point to make. Howev...
Christopher Chope | 450 c71 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes an important point. I would like the Government to acknowledge this issue first,...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c121 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman forgets that we allowed him to set a new precedent by winning on an amendment in ...
Owen Paterson | 450 c121 (Link to this contribution) We won the amendment and then the Minister voted down the clause, so it was a pyrrhic victory. The ...
Owen Paterson | 450 c120-1 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I am not aware of the details of the organisation, but it is probab...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c118-9 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that he and other Wellingborough constituents are happy. I can understand their pain....
Owen Paterson | 450 c119 (Link to this contribution) It has been a long ride; I feel positively arriviste as my participation goes back only to the new y...
Peter Bone | 450 c118 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister accept the thanks of many of my constituents for introducing this new law? A young...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c118 (Link to this contribution) I am always anxious to see measures put in place that are based on evidence. Not all roads need cras...
Lord Bellingham | 450 c117 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that dual carriageways are much safer than ordinary single carriageways, but...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c117 (Link to this contribution) I can comment on that. The fact is that there has always been a known under-reporting of accidents. ...
David Burrowes | 450 c125-6 (Link to this contribution) It has been a long road to get to this point in improving road safety. Certainly I can commend much ...
Owen Paterson | 450 c122-3 (Link to this contribution) That may be one category, but a wide range of people cease to concentrate on their driving skills. T...
Rob Marris | 450 c123 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the team and the Minister on the Bill. Among other jobs, I spent several years as a p...
Alistair Carmichael | 450 c123-5 (Link to this contribution) I, too, associate myself with the remarks made by the Minister and the hon. Member for North Shropsh...
David Drew | 450 c125 (Link to this contribution) I shall speak for only a minute. We remain disappointed about the issue of retro-reflective tape, bu...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c121 (Link to this contribution) I remind hon. Members that the reason why we did not pursue the matter is that the head of roads pol...
Owen Paterson | 450 c121 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has spoken with real passion on the subject, and he is absolutely right. It was disap...
David Leslie Taylor | 450 c122 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman refers to education, but would he include in the categories of drivers to be sent...
Owen Paterson | 450 c122 (Link to this contribution) I think that my hon. Friend the Member for South-West Bedfordshire would confirm that Bedfordshire p...
Andrew Selous | 450 c121 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning new clause 17, which we did not reach tonight. The Mi...
Andrew Selous | 450 c127-8 (Link to this contribution) Like every Member who has spoken today, I welcome the Bill and wish it good passage on its way to th...
David Kidney | 450 c126-7 (Link to this contribution) I am disappointed at not having secured debates on the amendments in my name on seat belt wearing an...
Kelvin Hopkins | 450 c128-9 (Link to this contribution) I just want to say a few words in strong support of the hon. Member for South-West Bedfordshire (And...
Andrew Selous | 450 c128 (Link to this contribution) With the greatest of respect to the Minister and to the head of ACPO road policing, everything that ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c128 (Link to this contribution) I did not say that the current system is acceptable. What I said was that ACPO has given me a catego...
Owen Paterson | 450 c96-7 (Link to this contribution) So it is a choice between infraction procedures and hanging around until 2011, by which time there w...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c96;450 c95-6 (Link to this contribution) I shall say this one final time: they are not doing so. The Italians have gone ahead and will face i...
Owen Paterson | 450 c95 (Link to this contribution) But the Italians, the Greeks, the French and others are going ahead, because they know that the meas...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c95 (Link to this contribution) There is a United Nations committee treaty to which we have signed up; the United Nations Economic C...
Owen Paterson | 450 c95 (Link to this contribution) That is a bizarre way of looking at cost. To a haulier, costs arise when their trucks are not runnin...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c95 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman should find it surprising that we seek to defend British indu...
Owen Paterson | 450 c94-5 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), who managed to get his name down fir...
David Drew | 450 c93-4 (Link to this contribution) If only we had that power. I will stick to the retro-reflective tape, if the hon. Gentleman does not...
David Drew | 450 c93 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that that helps, but it does put the matter into perspective. If we are to proceed at ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c103 (Link to this contribution) I can certainly give my hon. Friend the assurance that we will press for as early an implementation ...
David TC Davies | 450 c100-2 (Link to this contribution) I rise to support my colleagues in their new clauses. In answering a point made by the hon. Member f...
Greg Knight | 450 c100 (Link to this contribution) I will take advice from the experts on that point. I am not sure that that is correct in every case....
Barry Sheerman | 450 c103 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is in danger of rolling two things into one. Those of us who do not take a xenophobic...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c102-3 (Link to this contribution) I do not know how many different ways I can say it: the United Kingdom is a law-abiding nation that ...
Greg Knight | 450 c98-9 (Link to this contribution) I rise to draw the House’s attention to my new clause 27, which would require all motorcycles used o...
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown | 450 c100 (Link to this contribution) Has my right hon. Friend considered that to run headlights or sidelights on every vehicle would cons...
Greg Knight | 450 c100 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. And a dynamo or a generator is less effective than an alternator and an old vehicle forced t...
John Leech | 450 c97-8 (Link to this contribution) May I begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) on the amount of work that he ha...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c105 (Link to this contribution) French drivers and other continental drivers when they come to this country have to fit lenses to th...
David TC Davies | 450 c105 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for giving way and I can assure him that he need not spare my feelings...
Owen Paterson | 450 c104-5 (Link to this contribution) I have not mentioned close proximity mirrors. Our new clause 21 is written in very simple language. ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c107 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is right to identify that heritage vehicles often require special treatment...
Greg Knight | 450 c107 (Link to this contribution) I am encouraged by the Minister’s reply and think that all hon. Members back his position. If it app...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c106-7 (Link to this contribution) I will certainly ensure that my hon. Friend’s suggestion is considered, but I hope that he will acce...
Rob Marris | 450 c106 (Link to this contribution) May I suggest that when my hon. Friend is considering mirrors with blind spots he should do what we ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c103-4 (Link to this contribution) I come now to some of the hon. Gentleman’s comments. I shall give him an opportunity to intervene in...
David Drew | 450 c107-8 (Link to this contribution) I did not know that hon. Members had come to this House to start a world revolution by taking on bot...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c107 (Link to this contribution) I have encouraged my hon. Friend down an avenue that I did not want to encourage him down. We should...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c116 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. It has been a long journey. When the Bill ...
Speaker | 450 c111 (Link to this contribution) I understand that a separate Division is sought on new clause 37. As the House is aware, there is a ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c117 (Link to this contribution) I certainly join my hon. Friend in congratulating Isabel and SCID. I also congratulate all the road ...
Jim Devine | 450 c116-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will know of Isabel Brydie, a formidable lady in my constituency. She is the Scottish...
David Leslie Taylor | 450 c117 (Link to this contribution) We have indeed seen notable successes on British roads in recent years, but will my hon. Friend comm...
John McDonnell | 450 c107 (Link to this contribution) Unilateral action by this country linked to action by other countries that have expressed an interes...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c107 (Link to this contribution) The problem with unilateral action is that it would encourage infraction proceedings against us and ...
Rob Marris | 450 c60 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is talking about penalties. I think I understood him to say that if new clause 37...
Christopher Chope | 450 c68 (Link to this contribution) If the driver has traces of an illegal substance in his body, he would be guilty of an offence under...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c105 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has phrased a new clause in a way that requires a mirror to display all parts of ...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c93 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. Italy did move on this matter, but there were objections to that not only f...
Stephen Ladyman | 450 c54-5 (Link to this contribution) Clearly there are opportunities within the process that someone must go through to have the right to...
Peter Bone | 450 c79 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman arguing that the testing equipment is not good enough to trace drugs, or that ...
Lord Harper | 450 c119-20 (Link to this contribution) In my constituency last year, the rate of fatalities was, sadly, four times the national average. I ...
David TC Davies | 450 c93 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree therefore that slow moving and overloaded juggernauts should be remove...
Subjects
Contracts Appeals Death Bridges Breathalysers Buses Licensing Fixed penalties Disqualification EU law Drugs Exemptions Injuries Insurance Level crossings Driving under influence Large goods vehicles Foreign nationals Driving instruction Misuse Motorcycles Taxis Registration Safety Safety measures Roads Testing Speed limits Road traffic offences Traffic lights Level crossing orders
Legislation
Road Safety Bill (HL) 2005-06
Link
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