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news
Seized pedicabs (picture Metropolitan Police)Met Police seize 30 rickshaws modified with motors
Metropolitan Police have seized 30 pedicabs fitted with electric motors. The modifications mean the vehicles are classified as motor vehicles. The riders were given a written warning.
The Telegraph reports that over 50 pedicabs were inspected during the operation on Saturday, December 21.
Another 35 pedicabs had been seized in the preceding two months for having no insurance.
A Scotland Yard spokesman explained that converted rickshaws have a power outage that requires them to be taxed, insured and registered, meaning drivers also require a driving licence.
"The rickshaws were seized under s.165 Road Traffic Act for having no insurance, with each rider also being given a written warning under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014."
Acting Special Inspector, Geoff Tatman of the Met's Vehicle Enforcement Team, commented: "This weekend's operation was aimed at targeting pedicabs which have been fitted with electric motors.
"The alteration results in their overall power outage and speed being increased and subsequently defines them as motor vehicles with the requirement for appropriate documentation.
"We are determined to keep the streets of central London safe for all and this successful operation demonstrates that those who choose to flout the law will be dealt with robustly."
Westminster council has been pushing for more regulation of rickshaws for a number of years now, claiming to have received numerous complaints about riders.
Some are accused of ripping off tourists. In 2015 we reported on one who had charged a family £206 for a one-mile journey.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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13 comments
There are so many electric-powered pedicabs in London these days I had assumed that they were legal!! Good move by the Met.
My feeling too - I'm not a fan of the pedicabs and it's been pretty obvious for quite some time that a lot of them have (big) electric motors.
Lots of these pedicabs use a throttle controlled electric motor - just like a motorbike - so they aren't really cycles at all.
On an electrically assisted bike you still have to pedal to go forward and they are speed limited.
What's the difference between them and electrically-assisted bicycles?
Probably the power output of the motor.
Speed, output, size, number of occupants, number of deaths at the high end of an accident result, the need for servicing of the mechanics.
There will be a max power output for the motor assistance (Measured in watts?). Over that your bicycle becomes a motorcycle, or probably more correctly, a moped.
Isn't it the speed ? E-bikes are restricted to 15.5 mph - after that the battery cuts out
My lady, herself the owner of a splendid Emu leccy bike, says it's a combination of powered speed and power output at the motor, which may not exceed 25kph and 250W constant respectively. If you think this in any way wrong, please tackle her, not me, about it as I'm tired of answering the questions of the constant stream of admirers who gather round the machine at every tea stop. Nobody looks at my magnificent, sculpted, cutting edge Canyon, oh no; but they all want to know every little detail about Emu. I think it may be the duck-egg blue paintwork that attracts them like flies, it's certainly not for the shy and retiring.
But I shouldn't complain, it has kept her on the road despite chronic knee pain and served her well for thousands of miles.
I just hope they impound appropriate numbers of uninsured motor vehicles too.
They just did - these are them, that's the point.
But why were the operators only given a warning ? No fines ? No points against any current or future licence ? Surely their income comes under the rulings for income from illegal activity (operating a PHV without a licence or insurance) and it should be siezed too.
The drivers probably hire the pedicabs and probably make very little money after the hire charge, so unlikely to be much chance of recovering the fine amount if they were fined.
Most are likely to be migrant workers, and unlikely to be aware of the law in regards what size of motor makes it liable for registration etc. Although ignorance is no defence, they were probably assured by the pedelec owners that the vehicles were street legal.
AFAIK The Proceeds of Crime Act allows for seizing assets likely to be from serious crimes, e.g. drugs, robbery, and not traffic offences.