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news
Seized pedicabs (picture Metropolitan Police)Metropolitan Police seize nine London pedicabs fitted with motors
The Metropolitan Police say they have seized nine pedicabs that had been fitted with motors to make them go faster – and which due to their weight are therefore classified as motor vehicles. The news comes as concerns continue over the safety of the vehicles – commonly referred to as rickshaws – with a report earlier this year recommending drivers should be licensed.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Roads and Transport Policing Command inspected 50 pedicabs during the operation which took place on 5 and 6 September. They found that none of the drivers of the nine vehicles adapted with motors had driving licences or insurance, and vehicle excise duty had not been paid on any of them.
The owners of two of the pedicabs were fined £200 and received notices of six penalty points, while seven others were reported for summons, Meanwhile, one driver was discovered to be disqualified from driving and will appear in court.
Superintendent Rob Revill of the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: "Operations checking pedicabs that have been fitted with electric motors like this will continue to prevent collisions, as well as reducing the anti-social behaviour associated with obstructing pavements and roads.
"These vehicles have historically fallen outside of the insurance legislation, leaving the public passengers using them exposed to higher levels of risk."
In June, the London Evening Standard reported that a Law Commission report had recommended to the government that drivers of pedicabs should be licensed and subject to strict safety and training standards, with local authorities given powers to ban those who fail to meet national safety standards.
Reacting to that report, Mark Field, member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster, said: “It is an enormous relief to see the Law Commission finally recommending legislation. Rickshaws have become an absolute menace in the West End.
“In summer, their blaring music disturbs residents well into the night. They cause traffic chaos. And there is little protection for passengers in the event of a crash.”
Speaking about last week’s police operation, he told the Standard that a private member’s bill had been submitted regarding the licensing of pedicabs but so far it had not proved possible to find time to debate it in Parliament.
"I think we are living on borrowed time,” he said. “It has been a frustration; the difficulty is finding parliamentary time linking it to a departmental bill."
Steve McNamara of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), which has long lobbied to have pedicabs banned, told the newspaper:
"Someone is going to get killed in one of them. Unfortunately it is going to take a tragedy to get someone to act."
He went on: "[They] are inherently unsafe. They are flying through Regent's Street at 30mph. By their very nature you can get thrown out of them."
He also claimed that visitors from Middle Eastern countries had been overcharged by pedicab drivers, with one reported to have been charged £200 for a ride between the department stores Selfridges and Harrods, which he said should cost around £10.
"Most Londoners will find it abhorrent that [pedicab drivers] are ripping them off," he added.
Chris Smallwood, speaking on behalf of the London Pedicabs Operators Association, backed the police seizing pedicabs fitted with electric motors, but rejected allegations that the vehicles are inherently unsafe, saying: “The responsible members of the pedicab community comply with safety standards.”
Last month, a pedicab overturned on Charing Cross Road in London’s West End, with the occupants reportedly unhurt.
In April 2010, Christopher O’Kane, a soldier on leave, died in Edinburgh after falling from a pedicab in the Festival Square area of the city’s Lothian Road.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- brooksby 4 sec ago
I suspect that "60 mph" is code for "faster than I'd like"
- AMcCulloch 19 min 47 sec ago
Never a fan of Sky News or Murdoch with their wacky right wing c**p. However they seem to conveniently forgot the road rules governing what one...
- FatAndFurious 5 hours 57 min ago
I'm not known for my imagination. What are folk hoping to see? We have events, races, leagues, workouts, clubs, free rides, group rides, portals to...
- mark1a 7 hours 16 min ago
No problem at all old chap, its successor the CAAD13 is available in mechanical 105 11sp guise (not too shabby a groupset IMO with Shimano trickle...
- David9694 8 hours 10 min ago
Car crashing into Colchester Co-op sees two hospitalised https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/24719022.car-crashing-colchester-co-...
- . . 8 hours 22 min ago
I have two of these (I use one on the front with the red LED turned off and taped up) and think they are great, at least in daylight Plenty of...
- Prosper0 9 hours 11 min ago
No offence to Endura, but same advice as to Rapha, I actually have all the kit I need, for probably several years. You need to go and win the next...
- chrisonabike 13 hours 6 min ago
Ah - yes, they've got an American Star the wrong way round (means the child carrier needs rearranged though). Or it could be a Facile but inverted?
- lesterama 14 hours 59 min ago
What a bunch of ases
- quiff 15 hours 52 min ago
It was only your comment in the carousel that first brought me here, and yet I still managed to read most of the page before remembering this isn't...
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18 comments
£200 for a trip from Selfridges to Harrods doesn't seem extraordinary since it probably took all day.
They wouldn't pay VED if electric.
But: never mind the safety aspect they should be have the same insurance as any other hire and reward vehicle.
They wouldn't pay VED if electric.
But: never mind the safety aspect they should be have the same insurance as any other hire and reward vehicle.
quoting Wikipedia's summary of UK law on e-bikes:
They're also not legal in the UK if you can apply the power without pedalling.
The Taxi can can eff off, but that doesn't mean the operators of illegal e-pedicabs should be let off.
I would have some sympathy for these complaints, except they come from Steve McNamara (LTDA), who is a bit of a colossal tool.
Their a bloody pain to everyone.
Not necessarily defending these guys - if you are carrying the public on a commercial basis it seems reasonable you should have insurance and maybe some kind of regulation (even if you are just giving piggy-backs!)
But still can't help rolling my eyes at "Someone is going to get killed in one of them. "
As opposed to all those perfectly safe motor vehicles that have never been involved in any fatalities, ever?
Get all the black cab drivers into pedicabs, I say.
Taxi trade complaints would have credibility if they got their facts right.
No way would any pedicab manage 30mph - currently I spin-out around 26mph on the 1-gear, and always ride faster than any of the pedicabs.
Vehicles seized are not pedicabs anyway, but story does not say whether they are battery of ICE powered. on all cases these vehicles should have registration plates and C&U certification.
Major problem is however the lack of regulation and competition for income. Pedicabs should be free at point of use, and drivers paid for by advertising/sponsorship on cabs (eg for West End shows etc) advertising and payment (and possibly ownership) by media company. Drivers casual/self employed options but have to have 'ticket' to get work. Ticket ensures NI Number and drives down black economy risks.
I've seen them fistfighting in traffic and bumping into each other which raises questions of safety standards. However, black cabs are far more dangerous regarding weight and driver behaviour. This just shows they want to stop anybody competing with them for a possible fare.
From the article: "Most Londoners will find it abhorrent that [pedicab drivers] are ripping them off," he added.
Londoners don't use pedicabs; they're for drunk tourists. They're a pain in the arse because they hold up the traffic on the narrow streets around Oxford St/Regent St/Covent Garden. I'd ban them outright, motorised or not, but then I'd also get rid of all vehicular traffic from that area. Most of the time, it's going nowhere quickly and just serves to pollute the air and make walking/cycling less pleasant than it should be.
One of these rickshaw drivers was banned from driving. Surely he would have failed a CRB check.
Why was he banned? If it's drink driving he should not be allowed to operate any vehicle for public or private hire.
Do these operators have some sort of insurance cover?
Just looked up some data and in four years from 2006 to 2010. 73 pedestrians killed by buses and 249 killed by cars in London alone (tfl data http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/pedestrian-fatalities-in-...).
So are Pedicabs/rickshaws really as dangerous as Taxi drivers would have us believe?
Think I may go and start up a rickshaw business that you can book via Uber - That should cheer up the grumpy feckers
Wonder how many of those were caused by black cabs?
Pedal Rickshaws are fine. I know why Taxi drivers don't like the competition but that's not really why anyone takes a Ricksahw anyway. Motorised Rickshaws are Taxi and the police are right to take action. Is the driver safe, vetted, operating under known regulations? Is the cab safe, insured, inspected.
Look if you are running a business you should do it properly. A pedalled rickshaw is not pretending to a be a Taxi. You don't get in one for exactly the same reason you get in a cab. Even as a foreighn tourist you are going to realise this isn't a proper taxi but a tourist gimmick and that you can't rely on a meter.
Motorised Rickshaws are a different matter.
Can a pedicab really do 30mph on Regents Street ? I don't think a pro could achieve that in a pedicab.
Can a pedicab really do 30mph on Regents Street ? I don't think a pro could achieve that in a pedicab.
"Someone is going to get killed in one of them. Unfortunately it is going to take a tragedy to get someone to act."
Really? The regular deaths of cyclist doesn't seem to have had any marked effect on the getting action for safer conditions for cyclists. From reading the news papers I had always assumed that the death of anyone involving the use of a vehicle with pedals was very much their own fault.