This Statutory Instrument (1983 No. 1176) is part of the Road Traffic Acts, according to which it is illegal to ride a pedal cycle, including an electrically-assisted pedal cycle, on a public road in Great Britain, unless it meets the stated requirements. It can also be an offence to sell a pedal cycle that fails to meet these requirements – unless it's sold for racing off-road or on enclosed tracks.
But don't worry, the requirements are much less onerous than those of the Pedal Bicycle Safety Regulations, which ensure that any bike sold new since 1983 will certainly be legal to use on the road – assuming it's been kept in reasonable condition.
More exacting requirements apply to the construction and use of bicycles and tricycles with electrical assistance, as defined by the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations. For details of those requirements, see EAPCs below.
We sometimes forget that there's more to the UK than Great Britain. Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, Channel Isles and a few more places, each have their own subtly different versions of the Road Traffic Acts. And if you live in those territories, your bike must conform with any differences. If you're just visiting however, there or pretty much anywhere else in the world, you benefit from visitor status and your bike will be accepted provided it meets some internationally agreed basic requirements for international traffic. For more about that see International Requirements below.
Pedal Cycles
In the case of a pure pedal cycle (no electrical assistance) these regulations are simply and entirely concerned with the brakes.
Most sorts of cycle are required to have at least two efficient braking systems, by which the front wheel (or wheels) can be braked independently of the rear wheel (or wheels). This means that if there are two wheels at the front or rear, the relevant system must act on the pair. It also means that the combined operation of front and rear brakes from one lever is not allowed except as an extra braking system: additional to the two independent front and rear braking systems required by this law.
Apart from saying that a brake that acts directly on a pneumatic tyre shall not be deemed to be in efficient working order, these regulations do not define how the brakes are operated (by hands, feet or maybe even the teeth?) or how they work. A lot of words are nevertheless devoted to wheels that cannot rotate independently of the pedals (i.e. no freewheel), the effect of which is that a fixed wheel drive counts as a braking system – on that wheel or wheels.
Exceptions
Tricycles and quadricycles are allowed many and various deviations from the above requirements, depending on age, purpose and wheel size.
The most important exception applies to any normal tricycle, with at least one wheel bigger than 460mm diameter and 'not constructed or adapted for the carriage of goods'. (By goods they mean unusual heavy loads, not ordinary shopping or touring luggage.) Such an ordinary tricycle, with two rear wheels, is allowed to have both braking systems acting upon the single front wheel, or if the tricycle has two front wheels: on the single rear wheel.
The rear braking system of a pedal cycle manufactured before 1st August 1984, having two rear wheels, is allowed to act upon just one of those wheels.
If the highest part of the 'seating area' of a bicycle or tricycle cannot be raised above 635mm from the road surface, the minimum requirement falls to just one efficient braking system. This is clearly intended for (very) small children's cycles, but inadvertently lets most recumbents under the bar!
A pedal cycle with four or more wheels, none of which exceed 250mm diameter (i.e. a tiny-wheeled quadricycle+) is allowed to have brakes that operate directly on its pneumatic tyres without them being deemed inefficient.
I've already noted that fixed wheel counts as a brake. Taking that a stage further: if one wheel is not only incapable of rotating independently of the pedals, but the pedals are fixed directly to it without any intervening chain or gears, the cycle does not have to be equipped with any other braking system at all. This is obviously designed to allow various antique machines to be exercised on the highway without adding incongruous modern accessories!
This regulation also has a general exemption for pedal cycles (but not EAPCs) brought into UK by a foreign visitor for their own temporary use. Nothing in these regulations applies to such a 'temporarily imported' cycle, provided that it has one effective brake as required by the Convention on Road Traffic described below.
EAPCs
Cycles with electrical assistance are not allowed any exceptions to the independent front and rear braking rule, and a fixed wheel does not count. Their brakes are required moreover to perform to the level specified by British Standards.
It is also illegal to use an EAPC on the road unless certain other systems are in efficient working order.
- The pedals must be capable of propelling it.
- The battery mustn't leak so as to be a source of danger.
- The power switch or control must default to off, requiring a constant intervention from the rider in order to maintain power assistance.
- The motor power output and the road speed at which it cuts out must not exceed the limits set out in the EAPC Regulations.
The EAPC must also be fitted with a plate (where you can easily read it) showing the manufacturer's name, the battery voltage and motor power output.
It is interesting to note that whereas these regulations cater for pedal cycles with any number of wheels from two (bicycle) to four (quadricycle) – or even more – electrical assistance is not permitted with more than three (tricycle). This means that load-carrying quadricycles, increasingly used for deliveries into areas from which motor vehicles are excluded, cannot receive a little necessary electrical assistance without themselves becoming classified as motor vehicles.
Enforcement
Any constable in uniform is empowered to stop a cyclist and test the cycle for compliance with these regulations, and to enter the premises where a cycle is kept if it has been involved in an accident up to 48 hours previously.
Bells and reflectors
Note that there is no requirement in these regulations for a cycle to be equipped with a bell at the point of use. And if there were, this is where you'd find it. So the bell and all those reflectors required by the Pedal Bicycle Safety Regulations, may be discarded just as soon as you get the bicycle out of the shop! But remember that the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations are also part of the Road Traffic Acts, and that they apply from the moment the sun dips below the horizon!
The bell could also be useful, for instance on bikepaths with blind corners. And should you live in one of the other British Isles, or wish to visit there, or any other country with your bike, a bell may even be required by law (see below). So it's just as well to leave at least some of this arguably extraneous equipment attached.
International Requirements
When you visit another country with your bike, it doesn't have to be just like the bikes of that country. You get visitors privileges, and when it comes to each aspect of your 'temporarily imported' bike you can choose whichever is the easiest: the traffic law of that country, or the basic requirements for international use of a pedal cycle, as set out in Article 44 of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. To save you looking them up, these comprise:
- An efficient brake
- A bell – and no other audible warning device
- A red rear reflector
- Red rear lamp
- White or selective yellow front lamp
These requirements are in some respects more onerous but otherwise more permissive than what applies in Britain. No problem with brakes, since here we sensibly require two, but bells and lamps may seem an imposition when visiting countries that require such things Fortunately the Convention goes no further than to define the colour of light, so token lamps will suffice. But any cyclist who prefers a horn to a bell will be puzzled and indignant to find that they're strictly verboten!
As far as we know, Germany is the only country that requires lamps on bikes 24/7 (just fitted, not switched on unless it's dark). That's just one of lots of places however, that do require bells, including these parts of the British Isles: Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. Bearing that in mind, it's best to have a bell (but not a horn?!) already fitted, plus a rear reflector, and carry a couple of lamps whenever you travel.
Chris Juden 2010-06-25
