Road Safety Bill [HL]

My name is added to Amendments Nos. 113 and 115, which I strongly support. For years, I have felt that first aid should be taught in our schools as part of the curriculum, but this would be a help. It would target a group of people who really need to be able to help each other when they may be stuck in a car. There was a multiple crash on the M1 not long ago when helicopters had to take people off. When someone is stuck in a car bleeding to death and they do not know what to do and how to put pressure on to stop the bleeding they can die in a few minutes. The British Red Cross and St John Ambulance are willing to work closely with the Government to get something workable off the ground. We would not be the first country to have first aid in the driving test. Slovakia and various other European countries have it. They have far more stringent safety guards in their driving—we have grown slack—and triangles are put out in accidents. All cars have to have triangles, even in France. We are lagging behind. First aid saves lives: that should be the message. If one thinks back to the horrific recent bombings, anyone who was first-aid trained could see how a first aider would be able to help and they would not be frightened. The public were magnificent in the way that they helped each other. They would be able to help each other more in such horrible situations if they had basic first-aid training. I implore the Government to take the issue seriously and to be helpful.