Clause 42 - Vehicles modified to run on fuel stored under pressure
Road Safety Bill
6:30 pm
Mr David Jamieson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Transport; Plymouth, Devonport, Labour)
The clause amends sections 41 and 66 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It would enable the introduction of mandatory quality checks on vehicles whose fuel systems had been modified to run on fuels stored under pressure, such as LPG or compressed natural gas. It would then be an offence to keep or use on the road a vehicle that had not been modified to the required standards. The new requirements could also be enforced through the vehicle licensing regime.
The Department and the LPG industry have been concerned that, although many conversions have been good, some might not meet, first, the safety standards and, secondly, some of the air pollution standards. They might not have any real environmental benefit, in spite of the fact that the Treasury is giving substantial fiscal assistance for the purchase of LPG-powered vehicles.
We do not want too heavy a regime. About 100,000 vehicles have been converted, and more are being converted all the time. However, it is difficult to know how many have been converted, because people do not have to notify us. We want to ensure that, once vehicles have been converted, they are tested. I was surprised to hear the hon. Member for Christchurch advocate more regulation and more garage inspection, but he is clearly a convert to our cause on some of these matters. We want to ensure that a customer can be sure that a conversion has meets a high standard and is safe.