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Road Safety Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. The Segway is a motor vehicle for the purpose of road traffic legislation and that creates obvious and real difficulties. All noble Lords who have seen the Segway or have even had a chance to use it must be entranced by the technology. It is a most interesting vehicle. When I said that it had infinite potential, I did not say where it had that potential. The noble Earl, Lord Liverpool, will recognise that. I can think of some very safe places where it could be deployed with great efficiency and approval. But our difficulty is that people want the Segway to be used on the public highway and, in particular, on the pavement, when that would clearly present problems. To a degree, those problems would also apply to cycle lanes. The new technology is of great interest to us all. It was pointed out to us that it is used in some American states, including Washington DC, and also in some European countries. But there are many others where it is not and where there is also a real problem of how it would fit into road traffic. We have many interests to consult. Without prior full consultation and until we have collated and considered all the available evidence on the use of Segways, it would be irresponsible and inappropriate to make changes in primary legislation. This would be a significant step for us. The first time that many of us came across this vehicle was probably as recently as a couple of weeks ago. My department officials have met representatives of the company and I know that one or two of them have experienced the—dare I say it?—exhilaration of a ride on the vehicle. I say ““exhilaration”” because I was privileged to go on a short journey on it. I am never allowed to go more than 15 yards from your Lordships’ House when I am on duty so I went 14 yards, and I can testify to the fact that it is a most interesting transport initiative. We have advised the company to make contact with various groups in the UK which are likely to have an interest in the vehicle, whether they are for or against the concept of human transporters, because a lot of interests have to be taken into account. The department is seeking information from the company and elsewhere about the tests, trials and studies that are carried out in other countries, and obviously, where it has been used according to the law in some states, we will take that evidence into account. We will also carefully examine material relating to other similar devices, and we will consider the next steps to be taken. However, it will be recognised that it would be inordinately premature for us to use a Bill which is about road safety to introduce such a vehicle on to our highways when it is not certain where it is intended that it should be used. Clearly it does not fit on to the highway so far as concerns road vehicles. It is not a cycle and does not go as fast as a cycle. If it were more like a cycle, I have no doubt that the Segway would have made more progress in places such as the Netherlands, where there is a vast plethora of dedicated cycle lanes. But, at the moment, the Dutch have reservations about the mix between Segways and cycles. There is a real problem in relation to this vehicle. I know that it has control speeds but its maximum speed is more than 12 miles per hour. We have to consider whether we could conceivably allow on to our pavements or pedestrianised areas a vehicle which goes three times faster than vehicles used by the disabled, which we do permit and which are limited to a speed of four miles per hour. The House will recognise that I do not want to be a killjoy—far from it. I meant what I said, and the noble Earl, Lord Liverpool, referred to my interest in the technology. It is a most exciting concept. But it raises substantial problems for us in terms of the law and it would be exceedingly premature for us to accept an amendment to this Bill. Having given the subject a good airing, I hope that the noble Earl will feel that he can withdraw his amendment.