Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review Regulation 51 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 to require all wheeled goods vehicles to be fitted with basic safety equipment, including sideguards, to protect cyclists in the event of collisions.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Most heavy goods vehicles are already required to be fitted with sideguards when new. Work is already underway to amend the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 to ensure that sideguards are retained and maintained on these vehicles.
The Government is also supporting new technical measures under the European Commission’s Third Mobility Package to improve further the protection of pedestrians and cyclists.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cases of collisions between cyclists and wheeled goods vehicles occurred in each of the last three years; and how many cyclists survived those collisions in each year.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department collects data on personal injury road accidents reported to the police. The table below shows the number of reported road accidents involving at least one pedal cyclist and at least one goods vehicle in Great Britain for the last three years of available data, as well as cyclist casualties by severity resulting from these accidents.
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| Number of pedal cyclist casualties involved | ||||||
Year | Number of accidents involving at least one pedal cyclist and at least one goods vehicle1 | Killed | Serious | Slight | Total | |||
2015 | 1,770 | 27 | 350 | 1,392 | 1,769 | |||
2016 | 1,574 | 23 | 300 | 1,257 | 1,580 | |||
2017 | 1,467 | 25 | 334 | 1,104 | 1,463 | |||
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1 Van, LGV or HGV |
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| Source: DfT Stats19 | |||||
On 18 October the Department published a summary of the 14,000 responses received to its Call for Evidence on cycling and walking safety, including issues relating to large vehicles. The Department has recently announced a number of activities to improve the safety, and perception of safety, of cycling and walking: tailored cycle training for driving instructors, support for police in tackling unsafe “close passing”, an update to the National Standard for Cycle Training and, most recently, a review of the Highway Code to include overtaking and opening vehicle doors. The Department will publish its full response to the Call for Evidence in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the number of (1) road traffic accidents involving cyclists and HGVs, and (2) deaths resulting from such accidents.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The Department agrees that accidents involving cyclists and HGVs are an issue of great concern and our aim is to reduce the number of deaths that result from them. Responses to the recent Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) Safety Review Call for Evidence highlighted these concerns and we will be publishing a full response to the consultation shortly, which will seek to address the issue.
Details of the Call for Evidence and the Summary of Responses are available to view on the Department’s website.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide for segregated cycle lanes to be made accessible to (1) mobility scooters, and (2) tricycles.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Provision of cycling infrastructure, including segregated cycle lanes, is the responsibility of local traffic authorities. It is for them to decide whether or not to permit mobility scooters to use such lanes.
Tricycles are already able to use cycle lanes. The definition of a pedal cycle is given in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 as ‘a unicycle, bicycle, tricycle or cycle having four or more wheels, not being in any case mechanically propelled.
Asked by: Baroness Gardner of Parkes (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to remove the exemption for skip lorries and concrete mixing lorries from the requirement to be fitted with a safety bar, and, if so when; and what assessment they have made of the efforts made by Cemex in that area.
Answered by Baroness Kramer - Liberal Democrat Lords Spokesperson (Treasury and Economy)
The Department for Transport will be consulting in the autumn to change the rules for side guards to be fitted to tippers, refuse vehicles and car transporters that were registered from 1 January 2010. Side guards will be required to be fitted to the majority of new vehicles from 29 October 2014.
There has been no specific assessment of the measures implemented by Cemex but the Government welcomes the initiatives taken by a number of companies to voluntarily fit additional safety equipment to protect pedestrian and vulnerable road users.