Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Community Speed Watch programmes in reducing speeding in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Community Speedwatch schemes are initiatives coordinated by the police working with local volunteers to target speeders, and decisions on whether to operate local schemes are operational matters for the police. The Department for Transport agrees that these schemes can be a useful way of monitoring speeds and encouraging drivers to stay within speed limits. However, it has not made any assessment of the effectiveness of the programmes in the West Dorset constituency.
Turning to the deterrence of antisocial driving and street racing in rural areas, the Crime and Policing Bill, introduced to Parliament in February, includes proposals to give the police greater powers to clamp down on all vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour including street racing, with officers no longer required to issue a warning before seizing these vehicles.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting driving instructors with operational costs.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not employ driving instructors and so has no power or control over what they charge for their services, including lessons.
Fees charged by Approved Driving Instructors (ADI) for driving lessons anywhere in the country, including rural areas are a commercial business arrangement. The department has not offered any form of financial support to ADIs since the register's inception and there are no plans to change this.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to help reduce the cost of driving lessons for learners in rural areas.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency does not employ driving instructors and so has no power or control over what they charge for their services, including lessons.
Fees charged by Approved Driving Instructors (ADI) for driving lessons anywhere in the country, including rural areas are a commercial business arrangement. The department has not offered any form of financial support to ADIs since the register's inception and there are no plans to change this.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to facilitate the carriage of (a) e-scooters and (b) e-bikes on rural train services.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It is for individual train operators to decide whether e-scooters and e-bikes are accepted on their trains, following risk assessments to determine the safety of accepting these vehicles onboard. In general, e-scooters are not permitted on train services, whilst e-bikes are permitted provided they meet certain conditions. This includes being road-legal, stored in a designated area and not charged on trains.
In terms of wider public transport, the government recognises the benefits that e-scooters and e-bikes can bring and published guidance to public transport operators in February 2024, aimed at ensuring that responses to fire risks are appropriately targeted, effective, and proportionate, so that the potential of these forms of transport is not unnecessarily limited.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support her Department provides to local councils for reducing speed limits in villages.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Decisions on making local speed limits on roads in England rest with traffic authorities who have responsibility for roads in local areas. The Department for Transport issues best practice guidance to assist authorities setting local speed limits, designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing for flexibility to deal with local circumstances.
The guidance suggests that while government policy is that a 30mph speed limit should be the norm through villages, it may be appropriate to consider 20mph limits in built-up village streets that are primarily residential in nature, or where pedestrian and cyclist movements are high, where there is a safety case and local support.
The Department for Transport has made no assessment of the potential merits of extending 20mph limits or zones in rural villages in West Dorset constituency.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending 20mph zones in rural villages in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Decisions on making local speed limits on roads in England rest with traffic authorities who have responsibility for roads in local areas. The Department for Transport issues best practice guidance to assist authorities setting local speed limits, designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing for flexibility to deal with local circumstances.
The guidance suggests that while government policy is that a 30mph speed limit should be the norm through villages, it may be appropriate to consider 20mph limits in built-up village streets that are primarily residential in nature, or where pedestrian and cyclist movements are high, where there is a safety case and local support.
The Department for Transport has made no assessment of the potential merits of extending 20mph limits or zones in rural villages in West Dorset constituency.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what criteria her Department uses to determine speed limits in villages.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Decisions on making local speed limits on roads in England rest with traffic authorities who have responsibility for roads in local areas. The Department for Transport issues best practice guidance to assist authorities setting local speed limits, designed to make sure that speed limits are appropriately and consistently set while allowing for flexibility to deal with local circumstances.
The guidance suggests that while government policy is that a 30mph speed limit should be the norm through villages, it may be appropriate to consider 20mph limits in built-up village streets that are primarily residential in nature, or where pedestrian and cyclist movements are high, where there is a safety case and local support.
The Department for Transport has made no assessment of the potential merits of extending 20mph limits or zones in rural villages in West Dorset constituency.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has conducted public awareness campaigns on the dangers of mobile phone use while driving.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
THINK! is the Government’s flagship road safety campaign, which aims to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads by addressing a range of issues, including mobile phone distraction. In 2022, the Government ran a THINK! Campaign targeting 17-24 year old men and women, which coincided with the broadening of the legal offence of using a handheld phone while driving.
The campaign led to 75% of young men agreeing that it is always dangerous to use a handheld phone when you are at the wheel, with between two thirds to 80% of the audience taking action to change their behaviour after seeing the campaign’s short films.
Previous THINK! campaigns have addressed the role of passengers in distracting drivers, including through mobile phone use. Mobile phone campaigns also ran in 2017 and 2018 after the 2017 increase in penalties for driving while using a handheld phone. A radio advert asking drivers to ‘Put your phone away’ runs throughout the year via the Fillers service, through which radio stations run public service adverts at no cost.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of mobile phone usage while driving on the number of road accidents in the past five years.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Statistics on road collisions are available based on data reported to the Department by police forces via the STATS19 data collection system. Within STATS19, reporting officers can record up to 6 factors which they consider may have contributed to the collision occurring.
The number of reported road injury collisions in Great Britain where a police officer attended and assigned ‘driver using mobile phone’ as a contributory factor are shown in the table for the last 5 years for which data are available.
Year | Number of collisions with ‘driver using mobile phone’ as a contributory factor |
2019 | 420 |
2020 | 368 |
2021 | 440 |
2022 | 468 |
2023 | 463 |
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance her Department provides to drivers prescribed medicinal cannabis on (a) driving safety and (b) legal responsibilities.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There is a requirement on drivers to notify DVLA of a medical condition that affects their ability to drive safely. The DVLA will make an assessment on their fitness to drive. Information can be found on GOV.UK www.gov.uk/health-conditions-and-driving
The DVLA advise that medical prescribers should give patients advice on driving while using medical cannabis, as they would with any other medication.
This advice covers the main point that the patient should not drive if they feel impaired, and sometimes includes more specific guidance to support safe consumption.
DVLA publish this advice on GOV.UK www.gov.uk/guidance/assessing-fitness-to-drive-a-guide-for-medical-professionals
In 2015 the Government introduced a new offence in regard to driving with a specific controlled drug in the body above that drug’s accepted limit. The Government took a zero tolerance approach to 8 drugs most associated with illegal use, with limits set at a level where any claims of accidental exposure can be ruled out. This includes cannabis, including both illicit and medically prescribed. Advice is published on GOV.UK www.gov.uk/government/collections/drug-driving.