Oral Answers to Questions

Kate Green Excerpts

Thursday 29th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

8. If he will make it his policy to reinstate national targets to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

13. If he will make it his policy to reinstate national targets to reduce deaths and serious injuries on the roads.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Patrick McLoughlin)]

The Government have no plans to reinstate national targets. The strategic framework for road safety sets out measures that we intend to take to continue to reduce casualties. Those include making forecasts of the casualty numbers that we might expect to see through to 2030 if our measures, and the actions of local authorities, are successful.

[Mr McLoughlin]

I will never take safety lightly; it must always be uppermost in the mind of the Secretary of State for Transport. The United Kingdom has a very good record. In 1979, the number of people killed on the roads was 6,352. In 2011, the number was 1,901. That is still far too many, but the country has been heading in the right direction.

[Kate Green]

Campaigners will meet in my constituency this weekend to discuss how we can improve local road safety. There is growing support for 20 mph speed limits in residential areas. Why does the Department advise that safety has to be balanced against economic considerations and traffic flow, when there is no evidence of longer journey times in 20 mph areas?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I am always willing to look at the hon. Lady’s representations. It is important that we take a range of measures to improve safety. We have taken a range of measures, as have the companies that produce cars. There is no doubt that cars are much more responsive in their braking power than they were 30 years ago. We have made movements in the right direction. In some areas, 20 mph speed limits are right.