Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the percentage of drivers or riders involved in a road accident who were given a breath test, for each of the last five years; and what assessment they have made of the change, if any, in that percentage.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
A significant majority of road accidents are damage-only incidents where all participants exchange insurance and contact details. In line with s170 of the Road Traffic Act there is no requirement to report these incidents to the police and, unless there is a specific need for it, the police will not attend the scene. In these cases no breath tests are carried out and the accident is not recorded.
As a result, it is impossible to state what percentage of drivers involved in all accidents are given a breath test as the total number of drivers involved in accidents is unknown.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have reviewed (1) the drink driving limits across Europe, and (2) the proposed changes to the limit in Malta; and what assessment they have made of the limit in England and Wales in the light of those limits.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Our assessment of Home Office figures on breath tests is that the proportion of drivers providing a positive or refused to provide a sample over recent years has remained constant, with only a slight rise in 2014 to 11% compared to 10.5% in 2013. By contrast, it was 20% in 2003.
With Malta due to change their drink drive limit, all other European countries will have a lower alcohol limit, but they do not necessarily have a better record on reducing drink drive casualties. The TRL Report ‘PPR 796’ prepared for the Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Transport Safety (PACTS) shows that Britain, rather than having a higher level of road casualties in collisions involving alcohol than other European countries, has a comparable level despite the higher limit. Harmonisation with other countries’ limits is not a reason on its own for lowering the limit.
We therefore have no plans to lower the drink drive limit in England and Wales. Our approach in tackling drink driving is through rigorous enforcement, tough penalties, and changing the social acceptability of drink driving – including through our award-winning THINK! campaigns.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of Department for Transport figures showing a rise in the number of drivers failing a breath test.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Our assessment of Home Office figures on breath tests is that the proportion of drivers providing a positive or refused to provide a sample over recent years has remained constant, with only a slight rise in 2014 to 11% compared to 10.5% in 2013. By contrast, it was 20% in 2003.
With Malta due to change their drink drive limit, all other European countries will have a lower alcohol limit, but they do not necessarily have a better record on reducing drink drive casualties. The TRL Report ‘PPR 796’ prepared for the Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Transport Safety (PACTS) shows that Britain, rather than having a higher level of road casualties in collisions involving alcohol than other European countries, has a comparable level despite the higher limit. Harmonisation with other countries’ limits is not a reason on its own for lowering the limit.
We therefore have no plans to lower the drink drive limit in England and Wales. Our approach in tackling drink driving is through rigorous enforcement, tough penalties, and changing the social acceptability of drink driving – including through our award-winning THINK! campaigns.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many incidents of disruptive passengers on flights departing from or arriving in the UK have been recorded in 2016; what mechanism they use to record such incidents; and what assessment they have made of the effect of such incidents on the safety of other passengers and cabin crew.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government does not collect specific data on the frequency of incidents of disruptive passengers on flights departing from, or arriving in the UK. As such, no estimates have been made.
If serious enough such incidents would be counted amongst data for safety related events. In accordance with EU Regulation No 376/2014, safety-related events which endanger or which, if not corrected or addressed, could endanger an aircraft, its occupants or any other person have to be reported to the Civil Aviation Authority as part of the Mandatory Occurrence Reporting Scheme (MORS).
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reported comments by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 28 July that he would review the sale of alcohol in airports, (1) when that review will take place; (2) what its terms of reference will be; and (3) whether he plans to meet airlines to discuss the effect on the safety and comfort of passengers and cabin crew of excessive alcohol consumption on flights.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government strongly supports the industry and its efforts to find deliverable solutions to this issue. It is important to ensure that all air passengers have a safe and pleasant experience when flying.
The industry bodies have joined together to create the UK Aviation Industry Code of Practice on Disruptive Passengers, with the purpose of creating a common, consistent approach that co-ordinates and enhances existing efforts to prevent and minimise disruptive passenger behaviour.
At present there are no plans for the Government to review legislation in this area as I believe it is essential that the Code of Practice is given time to bed in and mature. We will continue to engage and meet with a broad range of operators in the aviation sector and managing disruptive behaviour is one of the issues we wish to discuss.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the potential merits of requiring the use of sealed tamper-proof bags for duty-free alcohol sales at airports to prevent excessive drinking on board aircraft.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Government welcomes industry’s commitment to tackling the issue of excessive alcohol consumption in airports and on-board aircraft. The use of tamper-proof bags for duty-free purchases is currently being trialled at a number of UK airports and as part of that trial industry will reach a view on the potential merits of this approach.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to prohibiting passengers from consuming their own alcohol on board aircraft, as is the case in the United States under Federal Aviation Administration regulations; and whether they have considered amending the Air Navigation Order 2016 to include such a prohibition.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The Air Navigation Order has provisions that make it an offence to board an aircraft, or be in an aircraft, while drunk, as well as behaving in a disruptive way. Additionally, the aviation industry has clear rules and procedures in place which make it clear that only alcohol bought onboard will be allowed to be consumed. There are no current plans for the Government to review legislation further in this area. Aviation safety is, however, always kept under review.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have considered making illegal all odometer adjustment, and enforcing an outright ban on (1) the sale and purchase of odometer adjustment equipment, and (2) companies offering those services.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
I deplore the practice of mileage fraud.
Odometers do go wrong and may be replaced, so there are occasions when adjustment of the odometer is legitimate. To help, consumers mileage is recorded at every MOT test and is available on the certificate and online. Although odometer adjustment is not currently unlawful, the misrepresentation of true mileage to a potential purchaser is illegal under consumer protection legislation.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the Which? survey which showed that 9 out of 10 of the Volkswagen owners surveyed believe they should receive compensation.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There has been no assessment of the Which? survey.
The Government expects Volkswagen to set out quickly the steps necessary to correct the problem and to support owners of the affected vehicles in the UK.
This Government is already playing its part by ensuring vehicle owners will not incur higher VED or Company Car Tax if their existing vehicles are found to be fitted with illegal software that manipulates emissions tests.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to protect consumers by tackling the use of odometer adjustments to reduce the mileage shown in cars.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Mileage fraud is an offence and is dealt with by local Trading Standards enforcement. Government requires the vehicle mileage to be recorded on the MOT form. This allows consumers to check previous mileages for a vehicle on line at the GOV.UK website.