Cycle regulations review : final report. Report prepared for the Department for Transport, International Vehicle Standards.

There is currently in place a wide range of pedal cycle legislation in Great Britain, covering construction standards, point-of-sale requirements and in-use issues. Some of this legislation is specific to pedal cycles (or just bicycles) or electrically assisted pedal cycles (EAPCs), while others are more general but contain pedal cycles within their scope (e.g. the General Product Safety Regulations and Vehicle Lighting Regulations). Much of the existing legislation, however, was originally developed 20-30 years ago and may not adequately reflect more recent developments in cycle use/consumer markets or in technology. There are also some potentially confusing or burdensome anomalies and/or inconsistencies between individual pieces of legislation, e.g. with some differences between requirements for cycles at the point of sale and when in-use on public roads. The Department for Transport is subject to a wide range of policy pressures, all having the potential both to conflict with and complement each other. Particularly significant and relevant are the pressures to simplify and reduce legislative burdens while maintaining or improving safety levels. The fundamental objectives of the study described in this report were to gather, generate and expert-review evidence from a wide variety of sources (including Red Tape Challenge and EAPC consultation responses) on the forces and pressures influencing pedal cycle construction, sale and use in Great Britain, and provide DfT with costed, practical and appropriate options for legislative change. The methodology chosen to achieve these objectives included reviews of published research literature, Red Tape Challenge responses, previous consultation responses, existing legislation, and of cycle accident data held within the STATS19 database, combined with thorough and comprehensive consultation with stakeholders from the cycle industry, cycling groups, local authorities, operators, professional bodies, road safety organisations and enforcement agencies. (Author/publisher)