Colin Wellings

From the Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State

Andrew Jones MP

Departm ent Great Minster House
for Transport eu es
SW1P 4DR
Web site: www.gov.uk/dft
Andrew Barkley

HM Senior Coroner
South Wales Central Area
Rock Grounds

First Floor

Aberdare

CF44 7AE

Deor Ws Rastlon,

Thank you for forwarding your ‘Regulation 28: Report to Prevent Future
Deaths’ report following the inquest into the death of Colin George Wellings
who passed away on the 8 July 2016 as a result of injuries sustained when
he was thrown clear of his tricycle after losing control of it.

| am very sorry to hear about this tragic death. Please pass on my
condolences to his family.

Protective helmets

You state correctly that there is currently no legal requirement for tricycle
riders to wear a safety helmet while riding on a public road. The Motor Cycles
(Protective Helmets) Regulations 1988, which require motorcyclists to wear a
helmet, do not apply to tricycles as they fall outside the definition given of a
motor bicycle, which is defined as a “two-wheeled motorcycle”. However, the
Official Highway Code (rule 83) does include advice that riders and
passengers of motor tricycles should wear a protective helmet.

Driving and licensing requirements

Certain models of tricycles are only suitable for off-road use, as they do not
meet the legal standards for use on roads. Vehicles that do not meet these
standards must not be used on roads, pavements, footpaths or bridleways
and to do so would be committing an offence.

Section 87 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 provides that it is an offence for a
person to drive a vehicle of any class on the road without a driving licence. To
drive a tricycle on public roads a motorist must hold a Category B licence; or
a former category B1 licence for motor tricycles that are up to 550kg unladen.
The categories of licences are set out in the Motor Vehicles (Driving
Licences) Regulations 1999 (SI 199/2864 the “1999 Regulations’). Regulation
5 and Schedule 2, Part 1, sets out the various types of licences.

Vehicle licensing and registration is governed by the Vehicle Excise and
Registration Act 1994 (VERA) (as amended). The Act requires that every
mechanically propelled vehicle used or kept on a public road should be
licensed and registered. The latest official statistics based on Driver and
Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data show 16,866 tricycles or goods
tricycles licensed for use on public roads in the UK as at the end of June
2016.

Seat belts

As you have identified, the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations
exempt motorcycles, which includes motor tricycles, from requiring seatbelts
where the vehicle is equipped with a driver's seat of a type requiring the
driver to sit astride it, and which is constructed or assembled by a person not
ordinarily engaged in the trade or business of manufacturing vehicles of that
description.

Seat belts are very effective at reducing injury when used with vehicles which
have a structure around the occupant area — this is able to offer direct
protection and to absorb some of the energy of the impact as it deforms. For
motorcycles and moior tricycles, the use of seat belts is expected to offer very
few benefits and in most cases, closely coupling the rider to the vehicle in a
collision is anticipated to exacerbate the injuries.

Proposed action
Improving casualty data for tricycles

Currently there are constraints on casualty data around tricycles as they are
not recorded separately but within the category “other vehicle”. “Other
vehicle” includes, for example, tricycles, quad bikes, ambulances, fire
engines, motor caravans, pedestrian controlled vehicles with a motor, refuse
vehicles, road rollers, mobile cranes, army vehicles and street barrows. In
2015, 21 people were killed and 124 seriously injured whilst using a vehicle in
the “other” category. This equates to around 0.6 per cent of all the Killed or
Seriously Injured (KSI) casualties in Great Britain during 2015. It is likely,
therefore, that the number of tricycle users killed or seriously injured is very
low.

To gain a better understanding, we are proposing to ask that tricycle
casualties on public roads are recorded separately in the police reported road
casualty statistics (commonly called Stats 19). Any changes to the Stats 19
requirements has significant implications for police forces, both in terms of the
burden of data collection and in terms of IT systems. For this reason changes
to the requirements are only made as part of the quinquennial reviews.

The reviews are run by the Department for Transport through the Standing
Committee for Road Accident Statistics (SCRAS). SCRAS is made up of
police forces, local authorities, central Government and expert users. Any
change is subject to agreement between all parties to ensure that the data
collected is fit for purpose, as well as not putting too much burden on police
forces. Changes to Stats 19 are not permitted outside of the reviews as the
cost to the police forces for retraining officers and staff and altering recording
systems would become prohibitive. It is only by making a large number of
changes at once that software alterations give good value for money. The
next Review will probably be in 2017. It will then take a year or so before the
changes are made, as police forces will need to make a software change to
add new codes / variables from the Review.

Protective helmets

Although the Highway Code advises that riders and passengers of tricycles
should wear a protective helmet (rule 83 - as mentioned above), there are no
immediate plans to make the wearing of helmets compulsory; such a change
would require primary legislation. However, we are keeping the position under
review; there are a number of factors that will need to be taken into
consideration such as, the level of use, the safety of riders in a collision and
the availability or otherwise of seat belts.

The Department has recently published a Road Safety Statement which sets
out the Government's priorities for improving road safety over the course of
this Parliament. We must give priority to those actions to which we are
already committed and which concern road users who are over-represented
in road casualty collisions.

Driver licensing and training

We are not proposing to mandate additional driving qualifications for
motorists who wish to drive a tricycle on the road, as anyone who does so
must hold a licence and will therefore have already passed a theory, hazard
perception and practical driving test, which we believe provides a robust
regime for road users.

Roadworthiness

Tricycles are subject to the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use)
Regulations 1986 and the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989. As such
they are required to be maintained in good working order and to be subjected
to an annual roadworthiness inspection.

Yous Brovdy
Avdros” Jone

ANDREW JONES