Off-Road Vehicles (Registration) Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 2:16 pm on 19 April 2024.

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Photo of Guy Opperman Guy Opperman Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport) 2:16, 19 April 2024

The hon. Member is making an impassioned speech, and I put on record my condolences to the Gow family. There are two points to address some of his issues. First, there are thousands of law-abiding users, represented by groups such as the Auto-Cycle Union and the Green Lane Association, who would be keen to have the differentiation between the criminals clearly committing antisocial behaviour and other things, and the thousands upon thousands who are acting normally. The point that I want to take away with the taskforce is that there are already 38,000 of these vehicles up and down the country on the voluntary register. It is not very well known that we have that voluntary register and, with respect, if we could expand it dramatically through coercion, nudging and other methods, that would make a massive difference straightaway.

Green Lane

A public right of way open to all classes of traffic including motor vehicles but generally unsurfaced and used by the public for recreational purposes. Although not a legally recognised term, a Green Lane is a road that has never been tarmacced and as such is a valuable part of the nation's heritage.