New Clause 3 - Cycle lights
Road Safety Bill
10:30 am
Mr Christopher Chope (Shadow Minister, Environment and Transport; Christchurch, Conservative)
I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
The new clause is strongly supported by the Cyclists' Touring Club and other cyclists. It displays common sense and recognises reality. At the moment, under the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989, a cycle fitted with a pulsating or flashing light is not lawfully lit. We know that an enormous number of cycles—far too many—used during the hours of darkness or twilight have no lights at all, and as with so much else in road traffic law there is inadequate enforcement.
Many cyclists recognise the importance of making themselves visible to other motorists and road users, and many purchase flashing or pulsating lights, or lights that are comprised of light-emitting diodes. Many of them purchase that equipment in cycle shops, not realising that, technically speaking, if they use it their cycle will not be properly lit for the purposes of the 1989 regulations, unless the lights are used in addition to other fixed lights. It may be that the police do not enforce this law very much because they recognise that it is better to have a cycle with a pulsating or flashing light, albeit an illegal one, than one with no lighting at all.
The significance of the existing ambiguity in the law is found in the civil courts because, if a cyclist is involved in an accident, civil liability is based on whether they were complying with the road traffic laws. If the cyclist has a pulsating or flashing light, but no other illumination, it is possible—indeed this happens—that they will be regarded as having breached the law on lighting requirements, reducing their chances of receiving damages and perhaps raising the issue of contributory negligence. That is a significant issue for cyclists and road safety.
Many years ago, when I was the Minister responsible for road safety, the police and Department officials ran a campaign to ensure that pulsating lights were not used by cyclists, and flashing lights were outlawed because they caused confusion. Whatever the intent might have been at that stage, in reality, cyclists have used their judgment and reached the conclusion, which many road users share, that a cycle with a flashing or pulsating light is probably more visible than one without. The need for technical consistency to prevent any flashing or pulsating lights being used on the highway other than by emergency vehicles has been eroded by the effluxion of time and the behaviour by cyclists on our streets. I tabled some parliamentary questions on the matter late last year, and I was told by the Minister that the issue was under consideration. The Department has been thinking about it for far too long, and the new clause gives the Minister an opportunity to reach a conclusion.
There is a good deal of suspicion that the Department has suppressed information in this context. About five years ago, using taxpayers' money, the Department commissioned a report on this very subject from the institute of contemporary ergonomics at Loughborough university, which the hon. Member for Loughborough knows to be a fine institution. That report has never been published or revealed to people like us, which makes us suspicious. Today is an opportunity for the Minister to say that he will publish the report and introduce this common-sense change to our law.