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9 Feb 2010 : Column 853W—continued

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what the average time taken was between the notification of a regional control centre of a motorway traffic incident and the arrival of the traffic officer service at the scene of that incident in each of the last 10 years; and what performance indicators are in place in respect of that response time. [309472]

Chris Mole: The traffic officer service has only been fully operational nationally since 2007. While some regional data exist on response time prior to October 2006, the incomplete data cannot be used to calculate the average time.

The following table shows the average time taken between the notification of a regional control centre of a motorway traffic incident and the arrival of the traffic officer service:

Average immediate response times over a 24 hour period (minutes)

1 October 2006 to 31 March 2007

9.4

2007-08

9.2

2008-09

9.3


The figures illustrated in the table above show the average response time for the Traffic Officer Service to attend incidents classified as 'immediate'. An 'immediate graded incident' is one where there is an obstruction on or related to the live carriageway that is likely to cause congestion or threaten safety.

The Highways Agency has not set a key performance indicator for the average time taken between the notification to a regional control centre of a motorway traffic incident and the arrival of the traffic officer service at the scene. This aspect of performance is addressed as part of the indicators for the clearance of incidents from all live lanes.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many staff of his Department are employed (a) full-time and (b) part-time on research for the purposes of reducing incident clear-up times on motorways. [309474]

Chris Mole: The Highways Agency manages research into incident clear up times on motorways. The Highways Agency currently has six full-time staff who spend on average approximately 10 per cent. of their time working on research into reducing incident clear up times on motorways.


9 Feb 2010 : Column 854W

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what trials using laser-surveying equipment his Department has undertaken for the purposes of reducing motorway incident clear-up times. [309475]

Chris Mole: The Highways Agency is currently working closely with Humberside, Sussex and the Metropolitan police forces to trial laser-surveying equipment. This trial will establish what benefits can be provided with respect to reducing the time it takes the police to carry out the investigation of fatal or serious injury incidents on the motorway. The final evaluation of the laser-surveying trial will be completed in 2011.

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how much his Department and its agencies have spent on (a) research and (b) trials of equipment for the purposes of reducing motorway incident clear-up times on motorways in the last five years. [309476]

Chris Mole: The Highways Agency manages research into incident clear-up times on motorways. In the last five years (from financial year 2005-06 up to and including the current financial year) the Highways Agency has invested approximately £0.507 million on research and £0.154 million on trials to improve incident clear-up times on motorways.

Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment his Department has made of the effects on accident rates of spray on (a) motorways and (b) other principal roads. [316103]

Chris Mole: There were 421 personal injury accidents on our trunk road network in the three year period 2006 to 2008 where spray was noted by the police as a contributory factor. Of the 421 personal injury accidents, there were 262 on motorways and 159 on 'A Class' trunk roads associated with 'spray from other vehicles'.

There is no ongoing or recently completed research into the effects of spray on accident rates on motorways or other principal roads.

In 2008, joint research by the Highways Agency and the road surfacing industry attempted to measure spray levels on different road surfaces on motorways and trunk roads with varying rainfall conditions but was inconclusive as the available technology could not provide a feasible way of measuring spray levels.

Motorways: Rain

Mr. Andrew Smith: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the effects on the generation of spray during heavy rainfall of different motorway surfaces. [316104]

Chris Mole: There is no ongoing or recently completed research into the effects of spray during heavy rainfall on motorway surfaces. Previous research has highlighted the difficulty in establishing clear evidence from accident records data of the contribution of spray to an accident.


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Motorways: Road Traffic

Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment his Department and its agencies have made of the effects on the level of motorway congestion of the implementation of the traffic officer service. [309458]

Chris Mole: A Highways Agency progress review of traffic officer service in 2007 included an assessment of the quantitative benefits of the service.

The review concluded that overall a periodic delay was about 11 per cent. lower than expected in 2006 compared with 2003. A periodic delay is the element of congestion that the traffic office service is expected to improve through early detection and clearance of incidents on the motorway network.

Although overall delays increased over this period, the element associated with detection and clearance of incidents increased less than would otherwise have been expected.

A Department for Transport review in 2009 stated that the 2007 benefits had been reviewed by Department economists and were confirmed as being robust.

Railways: Standards

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps he plans to take to improve the performance of the railway industry; and if he will make a statement. [314482]

Chris Mole: Targets to improve the performance of train operating companies are written into the franchises let by the Department for Transport.

Targets to improve the performance of Network Rail are written into the settlement they agree with the Office of Rail Regulation.

The performance of all aspects of the rail industry is monitored by the Department for Transport through the cross-industry Performance Delivery Group which is chaired by Ministers.

Performance on the rail network has consistently improved each year for the last eight years. Punctuality has risen from 75 per cent. to over 91 per cent. currently. The rail industry has been set a target to improve this further to 92.6 per cent. by March 2014.

Road Signs and Markings: Health Services

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport if he will assess the merits of placing on motorways and major roads direction signs to NHS Urgent Care Centres; and if he will make a statement. [316017]

Chris Mole: The Government's policy is that hospitals (including those with accident and emergency and minor injury units) and other medical facilities are not normally signed from motorways and other trunk roads.

For operational reasons there are a number of junctions on the all-purpose trunk road where hospitals (including those without accident and emergency facilities) have been signed. These signs have been approved by exception in situations where road users have to take a different
9 Feb 2010 : Column 856W
route than expected or where there may be two hospitals in close proximity that could confuse the road user, particularly if one has an accident and emergency department and the other does not.

Providing signs on the motorway and primary route network to accident and emergency or urgent care centres would require a considerable number of extra signs and could result in some road users missing existing safety-critical signs.

Roads: Accidents

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport how many road accidents resulted in the death or serious injury of (a) an adult and (b) a child in (i) Lewes constituency and (ii) East Sussex in each year since 1994. [315770]

Paul Clark: The information requested can be found in the following tables.

Reported road accidents involving killed or seriously injured adults and children in Lewes constituency( 1) : 1994 to 2008

Accidents involving a killed or seriously injured adult( 2) Accidents involving a killed or seriously injured child( 3) All accidents involving a killed or seriously injured casualty( 4,5)

1994

67

6

71

1995

69

6

73

1996

78

6

83

1997

70

9

78

1998

58

8

66

1999

80

7

88

2000

68

2

72

2001

55

2

57

2002

74

5

82

2003

52

2

54

2004

45

4

48

2005

46

5

49

2006

68

6

71

2007

73

5

77

2008

67

3

68

(1) Based on 2004 constituency boundary.
(2) Aged 16 years and over.
(3) Aged 0 to 15 years.
(4) Includes cases where age was not recorded.
(5) Accidents can involve both adult and child casualties, so rows may not add up to their total.


9 Feb 2010 : Column 857W
Reported road accidents involving killed or seriously injured adults and children in East Sussex County: 1994 to 2008

Accidents involving a killed or seriously injured adult( 1) Accidents involving a killed or seriously injured child( 2) All accidents involving a killed or seriously injured casualty( 3,4)

1994

484

74

549

1995

455

59

510

1996

544

73

605

1997

448

61

503

1998

449

63

517

1999

455

51

508

2000

429

69

501

2001

388

36

428

2002

422

50

478

2003

424

35

464

2004

359

51

410

2005

421

46

463

2006

461

42

499

2007

452

39

484

2008

444

45

483

(1) Aged 16 years and over.
(2) Aged 0 to 15 years.
(3) Includes cases where age was not recorded.
(4) Accidents can involve both adult and child casualties, so rows may not add up to their total.

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