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Motor Vehicles (Safety)

Volume 960: debated on Thursday 14 December 1978

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asked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what representations he has received from the British Safety Council about the safety of motor vehicles; and what reply he has sent;(2) what is his policy towards the report of the British Safety Council on the safety of motor vehicles.

My right hon. Friend has received from the council a copy of a report published by it on vehicle defects and recall procedure. The report suggested that new cars produced in this country are subject to numerous defects and it made various proposals including the installation of a "hot line" by him so that members of the public could telephone complaints of defects. It also proposed a statutory obligation on manufacturers to notify the Department of actual or suspected defects. The reply sent, of which I will send the hon. Member a copy, said that defects in new vehicles seemed to make only a small contribution to road accidents, but that the importance of monitoring and remedying them was nevertheless appreciated. It said that the preference was for relying in the main on a voluntary system for notification of the Department by manufacturers of defects found or suspected: and it referred to a current review of these arrangements with the manufacturers. The proposal for a "hot line" was rejected on the grounds that, if any complaint of a defect was to be seriously pursued, it ought to be submitted in writing and preferably brought to the attention of the manufacturer or his accredited agent in the first instance.