Dear LPG

I know that LPG is particularly associated with issues that directly affect older people, but what I want to talk about needs to be addressed by all people I think.. I have a friend who has an electric wheelchair which makes such a difference to her life. Its maximum speed is more than 8 miles per hour and so she needs to have a licence to use it on the road. I am not sure if the rules have changed but while the law stipulates that she needs a licence, as far as I know, that licence still costs her nothing.  

On the other hand, I took a look at the revised rules for riding a pushbike on UK roads and as ever everything seems to be stacked in the cyclist’s favour while we still see so many of them doing obviously risky manoeuvres.  They still advance through vehicles of all sizes as they wind their way between traffic waiting for traffic lights to change and all too often they appear not to realise that they too can apply their brakes.

I recently found a website which tells that the average pushbike with a beginner on board travels at about 10 mph which advances to some 15 mph quite quickly, and proficient cyclists can average as much as 25 mph.   What I would like to know is, if the average speed of a push bike is about 15 mph, how can the government justify not licensing bicycles?

The latest set of rules that were rolled out in January this year stipulate that they can just about do anything, that most other road users are expected to work with their judgment. I also have a few misgivings when it comes to their using any lane on our roads. 

We are so often told that speed makes so much difference to the outcome of any road accident.  So, I continue to ask the question, if an electronic wheelchair that can travel over 8 mph needs to be licenced, should pushbikes that are used on UK roads also be recognisable with a registration number?   

RP, Sydenham.

RP shares a few bicycle based speed facts…

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