Road Safety Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 113:"Page 34, line 7, at end insert—" ““(   )   In subsection (1) (tests of competence to drive)— (a)   after the word ““requirement”” insert ““, has received first aid training””; (b)   in paragraph (b) at end insert—             ““an applicant shall be considered to have received first aid training if on the date the application for the licence is made he has received the training prescribed by virtue of subsection (3) below””.”” The noble Lord said: It has been evident throughout the passage of the Bill that there is strong cross-party support for the objective of increasing road safety and reducing casualties on the roads. At Second Reading, it was clear that there was support in all parts of the House for giving careful consideration to the introduction of a first aid component into the driving test. No fewer than six noble Lords spoke in favour of such a move. Amendments Nos. 113 and 115 would enable the introduction of a first aid requirement. The introduction of a first aid component into our driving tests not only fits in with the intention of the Bill but would directly contribute to the aim of reducing casualties on roads in the UK. There are 10 deaths on our roads each day, and it is entirely right that our main focus must be on preventing accidents happening in the first place. However, we would be naive if we failed to acknowledge that accidents would continue to happen. It is incumbent on us to consider how many lives could be saved if those involved in an accident had basic first aid skills. The simple fact is that the most common cause of death in a road accident is a blocked airway. Timing in such cases is crucial. It takes, on average, eight minutes for the emergency services to get to most urgent cases: it takes less than four minutes for a blocked airway to cause death. That gives us a stark example of how learning the most rudimentary first aid—that tilting the head back unblocks the airway—can save lives. Research has shown that, in a significant proportion of road accidents, the victims sustained injuries that almost certainly led to their death. However, in cases in which death was not inevitable, up to 85 per cent of victims had an airway obstruction. If that had been dealt with at the scene, many of those people would have survived. Putting first aid in the driving test will target the right group: young people. Drivers under the age of 29 make up more than a third of those involved in accidents. Drivers between 17 and 20 are six times more likely to be involved in a collision that causes injury than drivers over 40. That is why the driving test is an ideal time to learn the basic life skills of first aid. Let us be clear on what we mean by learning first aid. We are not trying to turn our nation into paramedics overnight. We are talking about basic skills that are easy to learn and easy to teach. Simple techniques, as I said, such as tilting the head back to unblock an airway or raising a bleeding arm and applying pressure are skills that are easily picked up in a matter of a few hours and are simple to remember. Those skills could also save lives. People who learn first aid are more likely to know their limitations and understand what they should not do, such as removing a motorcyclist’s helmet unnecessarily if he or she is likely to have sustained head injuries. So the benefits are numerous. It is important that we also understand that we would not be requiring people to administer first aid. The amendment certainly does not introduce any obligation whatever for people to attend those with injuries. However, what a terrible shame it would be for people who could help—for example, to tilt a head back in order to enable someone to breathe—not to know that one simple skill that could save lives. Noble Lords have also raised the issue of liability. I am happy to report, even in this increasingly litigious society, that there is no case law whatever to support the idea that you can be sued for being a Good Samaritan. By giving first aid to a person, you owe them a duty of care to carry out that first aid in accordance with your knowledge, training and experience. It is highly unlikely that a successful claim could be made against you for trying to help an injured person. Clearly, the implementation of a first aid requirement would need to be phased in, just as the requirement for first aid qualified people in the workplace was phased in. The DVLA should not have any dealings with the delivery of first aid training. The most practical solution is the presentation of an accredited first aid certificate in order to fill that requirement. With more than 1,000 approved ““first aid at work”” providers in the UK, that seems entirely practical. The structures in place for first aid certificates at work through the Health and Safety Executive give a model of how that could be achieved and, indeed, could be used to administer training. The case for introducing first aid as part of the driving test is incredibly strong. On passing the driving test in the UK, you are allowed to be in charge of a machine that can cause injury and death. Clearly, taking just a few hours to learn how to save a life in the event of an accident does not seem unreasonable. It sounds like common sense. I hope that the Minister will respond in detail to this amendment and will give the Government’s intentions on first aid provisions in the Bill. I beg to move.