Lee Semple.Com » Law

Active Travel Debate

Lee — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:39:41 +0000

Transport Committee convener Patrick Harvie continues the debate on active travel in the Scottish Parliament. Also available here from the BBC.

Scottish Parliament – The Bike Station

Lee — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 09:26:12 +0000

SNP MSP Ian McKee leads a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the Edinburgh bicycle recycling and cycling promotion charity, Bike Station.

Scottish Parliament – Active Travel

Lee — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:12:24 +0000

A further two videos from the Scottish Parliaments’ Transport Committee regarding Active Travel. The first of the two session’s deals with the more practical aspects of implementing better cycling facilities within Scotland road network. The second video deals more with the aspects of road safety, with questions on training and road facilities. Well worth a watch…

Fist Session

Second Session

Cycling Action Plan for Scotland

Lee — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:57:04 +0000

The Scottish parliament transport committee recently heard from transport consultancy Steer Davies Gleave as part of the CAPS initiative which aims to increase cycling in Scotland by 10% by 2020.

The BBC covered the session on Democracy live TV and the information given is very informative and interesting. I have embedded the video below, and its available from the BBC here. Enjoy…

Euro Regulations for Electric Bikes

Lee — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:16:51 +0000

Award winning Go- Cycle

On Wednesday the 30th of September, ETRA (European Twowheel Retailers’ Association) submitted to the European Commission a motivated proposal for changes in the regulations governing pedal assisted cycles, electric bikes and electric mopeds.

To summarise briefly; they have recommended an increase in power for electric assist bikes, but have opted not to allow an increase in speed. They have also created a new category for electric bikes that are throttle controlled and are not pedal assist.

This new category is perhaps the biggest change as some cyclists view a throttle controlled bicycle as an electric motorbike, not a true bicycle. I personally have to agree. If the bike has pedal assist then it is without doubt a bicycle as it requires human power to move; but when you remove the need for pedaling it becomes a motorised vehicle. I guess some in the industry are worried that if you remove the need for pedaling a throttle controlled bike, then how long will it be before they remove the pedals from such machines altogether.

The full text of the document can be found here.