Oral Answers to Questions — Roads – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 February 1964.
Mr Cyril Bence
, Dunbartonshire East
12:00,
12 February 1964
asked the Minister of Transport what consideration he is giving to bringing into operation some of the Continental practices devised to prevent road accidents.
Mr Ernest Marples
, Wallasey
Our aim is to adopt any Continental road safety measures that would be suitable for this country and there are close contacts at all levels.
Mr Cyril Bence
, Dunbartonshire East
May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether he will consider using the Italian system or issuing a red triangle to a motorist, which he puts down 50 metres behind him when he stops in the carriageway for any purpose whatsoever?
Mr Ernest Marples
, Wallasey
I am proposing to make regulations which will permit drivers to put up special signs in an emergency.
Sir Raymond Gower
, Barry
May I ask my right hon. Friend whether he can explain why we lumber along without any clear priorities at roundabouts? Does my right hon. Friend realise how many accidents are caused by two motorists approaching the same roundabout each assuming that he has priority'?
Mr Ernest Marples
, Wallasey
As my hon. Friend has probably seen, we are carrying out experiments giving priority to traffic coming from the right at certain rounda-abouts, and the Road Research Laboratory is seeing what the results of these experiments will be. If they prove to be favourable we shall consider extending them further.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
