Road Safety And Defective Lorries

EDM number 307 in 1995-96, proposed by Peter Hardy on 18/01/1996.

That this House regrets the tragic death of Mr Paul Turner which was caused when a disconnected prop shaft flew from a very badly maintained heavy goods vehicle being driven along the M1 motorway and finds it deplorable that existing law does not provide adequate or clear sanction as to allow such criminal neglect to receive proper response; further notes that two judges of the High Court considered that a charge of manslaughter should have been brought against the company responsible for the deaths of six people in Sowerby which, again, were caused by a badly maintained goods vehicle; and therefore calls for urgent amendment of the law to ensure that serious sanction follows gross neglect of the maintenance of such vehicles.

This motion has been signed by a total of 78 MPs.