[Lord Speaker] My Lords, first oral question.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town.
I beg leave to ask the question, standing in my name on the order paper.
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] My Lords, regulations are already in place
to help prevent headlamps, including those using
LED technology from causing dazzle and glare.
Nevertheless, work is ongoing at an international level
to develop and introduce improved headlamp aiming requirements,
and these are also likely to mandate
automatic headlamp levelling systems on new cars.
[Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town] Well, I thank
the noble lady the minister for that because it's a rather better
answer than a rather complacent one she gave in a written answer to me.
So I am grateful to that,
because the RAC has reported
that nine out of ten drivers think that some or most headlights
are too bright and 90% of them say that they get dazzled.
The SMMT is aware of this,
as is the College of Optometrists,
who assure me it's not just elderly eyes like mine that are affected,
but it's youngsters as well as I see being confirmed around the chamber.
So could the noble Lady, the minister agree
perhaps to meet with myself and others interested in this matter,
to see whether we can make more rapid
progress about issues such as the aiming height of lights.
[Lords] Hear! Hear!
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] Well, I will certainly meet with the noble
Lady and indeed others who are interested in this particular area.
The noble Lady mentions the RAC survey, which indeed was a survey
and people were self-selecting in terms of their responses.
In 2018 there was research and it concluded that overall
there is no direct adverse health benefits from LED emissions
in normal use and indeed they may reduce light sensitivity
due to the absence of UV radiation.
So my Lords, as I’ve said, work is continuing on this.
It's important that we look at the research,
but we have pressed the UNECE to make further progress.
[Baroness Randerson] My Lords, the noble Baroness asked about new technology.
But tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the introduction of seatbelt laws
in the UK
and it's saved many thousands of lives since.
Yet in 2021, 30% of those killed in car
accidents were not wearing their seatbelts.
And the recent experience of the Prime Minister has revealed
the importance of raising awareness.
The current £100 fine
with no penalty points,
is out of kilter with the fines, for example,
looking at your mobile phone, which is £200
and six penalty points.
Will the noble Lady guarantee that
the government will review the law on seatbelts
with a view to introducing penalty points.
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] The government is doing a significant
amount of work when it comes to road safety and indeed in the three years
that I was the roads minister, I took much of that work forward.
We will be publishing the road safety strategic framework in the spring
and that will look at all different elements of road safety
with a focus on how we can reduce deaths and also serious injury.
[Lord Aberdare] My Lords,
one of the things that exacerbates headlight
glare is the fact that very many cats’-eyes
seem to be either not very effective or not present at all.
Can the noble Lady tell us what
regulation there is to ensure that cats’-eyes are
installed or maintained in a working way?
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton]
I don't have information on the regulation of cats’-eyes to hand.
However, I will happily write to the noble Lord
with further details.
[Lord Lexden] My Lords, when I was young, long ago,
it was considered right and courteous for motorists to dip their headlights
for the benefit of others on the road.
Is this practice still continuing or is it long out of date?
I ask this question as a non-motorist.
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] Well, my noble friend is quite right.
One should not drive at another car with full beam on.
It is right that they are dimmed.
But indeed many vehicles nowadays have a manual system
for levelling the aim of headlights.
The problem is not enough
vehicle owners know how to use it, which is why we asked the UNECE
to look
very closely at the automatic systems which are available
and whether that would help.
[Lord Tunnicliffe ] My Lords, I wonder if we just go back
to the point on road marking and cats’-eyes.
An awful lot of junctions these days become increasingly complex
and good road markings absolutely crucial to finding your way around them.
But it seems to me that usually
it is only white lines on dark surfaces
and there seems to be a world shortage of white paint
because over and over again, the best you can see is a shadow of it
in the day and at night and particularly wet at night
you're all alone trying to navigate the complexity.
[Member] My Lords --
[Lords] Order! Order!
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] My Lords.
The government does set out guidelines
for local authorities
in terms of road markings and indeed all sorts of different things on the streets.
We are looking at revising that at the moment.
But of course, for most roads across the country,
it is for local authorities to make sure that they are marked up appropriately.
[Lord Flight] My Lords, wouldn’t the solution to this issue
be an automatic system that comes with any car
and any car purchased?
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] Well I'm grateful to my noble friend,
because that is precisely what we are looking at.
Indeed, it was the UK that asked the UNECE to look at the automatic systems
that are available to do the research and to assess
whether or not they should be implemented in new vehicles.
The discussions on this matter will proceed in April 2023.
[Lord Watts] My Lords, the minister says that her department is carrying out
a review of road safety, but will it cover cyclists
who often travel with no lights on, go through lights when they're on red
and actually go at very high speeds and cause danger to the public?
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] The noble Lord is absolutely right.
Road safety is not just about motorists, it's about everybody that uses
the roads that include cyclists, that includes pedestrians.
We just need to make sure that all road users
can interact safely with each other to try and reduce deaths.
[Lord Grocott] My Lords, the minister seemed unconvinced
by my noble
friend Baroness Hayter’s evidence about what
motorists feel about the dazzling lights coming towards them.
It's certainly anecdotally the case from people I've spoken to,
but if she discounts Baroness Hayter’s evidence,
what evidence is there that comes from her department
as to this issue, which seems to be one of some considerable concern?
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] I think I was just trying to point out
that the evidence noted by the noble Lady, Baroness Hayter, was a survey.
The Department for Transport has actually done
scientific research into this matter, which we did in 2018.
And the conclusion overall, as I said, was there was no direct
adverse health effects from LED light emissions.
However, that does not mean that we don't continue to take great interest in this.
We recognise people's concerns about dazzle and about glare,
which is indeed why we have pressed
the international community to make some headway.
[The Earl of Clancarty] My Lords
I’m not sure that it's the health emissions that is the real problem.
I've read that quite a few accidents have been caused by this.
So maybe there is quite an urgency to this matter that Baroness Hayter has raised.
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] I can actually provide some further evidence of that
between the years of 2010 to 2020 - so a ten year period
- dazzle was a contributory factor,
and indeed there can be many contributing factors
you don't have to have just one in a collision,
in terms of 0.25
and 0.34% of collisions.
So far less than half a percent even have
as a contributory factor, dazzle.
However, we've also looked at the trend over time and there has been no increase
in the amount of dazzle caused.
Again we will continue to look at all evidence,
but I can say it is a very, very small number
of collisions that even have it as a contributing factor.
[Lord Geddes] Does my noble friend know whether these self
adjusting lights can be retrofitted?
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] I'm grateful to my noble friend.
I do not know that they can be retrofitted, but I will find out for him.
[Lord West of Spithead]
My Lords, my noble friend mentioned the complexity of road crossings.
Could I ask the noble Lady the minister, does she feel that the number of signs
one comes across, for example, in London telling one one can't turn left, right,
straight on, where the cyclists go, what the parking's like,
what the speed limits changed to, are so numerous
has there been any study into looking at what a human being can actually understand
without running people over because he's trying to look at them all?
(Laughter and chatter from crowd)
[Baroness Vere of Norbiton] Well, yes.
There is something called sign blindness where you just get too many.
The brain gets overwhelmed and we are very conscious of that.
That is why we are looking again at our guidance to local authorities.
And of course in London, that would fall under the remit of Mayor of London.
So he may wish to take it up with him
because I am aware of some junctions near me
that could certainly do with some attention.