Rickshaws in london? oh the humanity!

[Melonfish]

Linky to BBC!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18018010

looks like they're trying to relax the licence laws for taxi's in london, and rickshaws will be allowed allong with motorbike taxis (tuk tuk's) and limo's

would be interesting to see little blue tuk tuk's in london, seriously continental!
pete

 

[gaz]

I seem to be missing the part about relaxing license laws on taxi's (do you mean minicabs and the relaxation of their geographical limitations) and tuk tuk's?

 

[srw]

They're already on the streets, just not licensed. If Boris (taxi drivers' bezzie) has his way, they'll be swept aside to let traffic run more freely.

 

[Melonfish]

I seem to be missing the part about relaxing license laws on taxi's (do you mean minicabs and the relaxation of their geographical limitations) and tuk tuk's?

er sorry yes, geographically and allowing other forms of taxi transport, i.e. motorcyle taxi's which would mean tuk tuk style things.

 

[dawesome]

The Bow roundabout death resulted in no charges for the driver who was chatting on a mobile, failed to indicate, and admitted he had a blind spot which meant he couldn't see what was 9 feet in front of his lorry. Lorries killed 11 cyclists last year, if the driver says "They were in the blind spot" then nothing happens.

Yes, let's concentrate on rickshaws and the countless scores of people they don't kill.

 

[Melonfish]

The Bow roundabout death resulted in no charges for the driver who was chatting on a mobile, failed to indicate, and admitted he had a blind spot which meant he couldn't see what was 9 feet in front of his lorry. Lorries killed 11 cyclists last year, if the driver says "They were in the blind spot" then nothing happens.

Yes, let's concentrate on rickshaws and the countless scores of people they don't kill.

Not sure i get your post, or that you don't get mine, i'm just pointing out a news article i'm not saying rickshaws kill people?

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Although those operating in London won't like it, new licensing laws for pedicabs could be a really good thing for people wanting to run them elsewhere in England & Wales. (Scotland has different rules).

At the moment it is really hard to get approval for a rickshaw outside London as there are no specific rules in place to allow them to operate. The guys in London are using archaic (and lax) stagecoach laws which for some reason still apply there but were repealed in the rest of the country, meaning that anyone wanting to operate outside the capital has to rely on the goodwill of their local authority to get some sort of licence arrangement in place.

A proper legal definition, rules and licence would make it so much easier to know where you stand and could mean rickshaws becoming a more common sight, especially in the more touristy places.

 

[Melonfish]

Although those operating in London won't like it, new licensing laws for pedicabs could be a really good thing for people wanting to run them elsewhere in England & Wales. (Scotland has different rules).

At the moment it is really hard to get approval for a rickshaw outside London as there are no specific rules in place to allow them to operate. The guys in London are using archaic (and lax) stagecoach laws which for some reason still apply there but were repealed in the rest of the country, meaning that anyone wanting to operate outside the capital has to rely on the goodwill of their local authority to get some sort of licence arrangement in place.

A proper legal definition, rules and licence would make it so much easier to know where you stand and could mean rickshaws becoming a more common sight, especially in the more touristy places.

which i think would be really kewl actually and perhaps even make other drivers a bit more aware of cyclists in general not just rickshaws

 

[dawesome]

Not sure i get your post, or that you don't get mine, i'm just pointing out a news article i'm not saying rickshaws kill people?

Neither am I, I just wondered if resources could be better allocated, for instance to the vehicles that ARE killing people?

 

[gaz]

Neither am I, I just wondered if resources could be better allocated, for instance to the vehicles that ARE killing people?

I take it your whole mini rant is based around the sub header of the article that says

as part of plans to improve road safety

 

[dawesome]

I wondered what the casualty rates for rickshaws are? Are they a major problem?

Tory Baroness Gardner complained that the pedal-powered tricycles, which can take up to three passengers, sometimes "cut right across traffic" in London.
She said they posed "quite a danger" which proper regulation could tackle.

It's my fault for assuming it was part of the clamp down that's been in the Evening Standard, sorry.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I wondered what the casualty rates for rickshaws are? Are they a major problem?

I can't give you any kind of figures I'm afraid, but to the best of my knowledge they are not a major problem. I'm only aware of two fatalities in the UK (one from a freak accident involving a scarf and one where the occupant got out while the vehicle was moving). There are other incidents but they tend to be minor.

However the London pedicabs are a bugbear for the authorities as they are effectively unregulated (the operators just have to follow a few simple rules and they can call themselves stagecoaches) and the more dodgy companies seem determined to make a nuisance of themselves by ignoring the rules of the road, fitting illegal modifications and parking up wherever they please, so the powers-that-be have long wanted to introduce rules to regulate them.

Personally I think it will be good, provided they don't regulate the trade to death, as at the moment anyone with enough money can get a fleet of the very cheap and poorly made rickshaws that are currently invading the market and go into business. Training and insurance are often afterthoughts which hurts the reputations of those who aim to do it properly.