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Lord Hanningfield: My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. I agree that we have to provide and exchange information to prevent crime. I am slightly concerned about the possibility of information being sold to countries to which we would not want it to be sold. I trust that the DVLA will take that into account. I am concerned about recent press reports but I shall not discuss those today. We might address that matter on another occasion. I shall reflect on what has been said and on whether we need to return to this whole area of information at Third Reading. In the mean time, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Baroness Hanham moved Amendment No. 46:
"MOTORCYCLES IN BUS LANES
All bus lanes when buses are moving in the same direction as traffic in the adjacent vehicle lane shall be open to use by motorcycles."
The noble Baroness said: My Lords, I return to the discussion that we had in Committee on the possibility of motorcycles using bus lanes. Primarily that would deliver important improvements in road safety, particularly for motorcyclists themselves. Moreover, increasing the safety of motorcycling would perhaps encourage more people to take up this environmentally friendly alternative to the car, which in turn would make significant contributions to the alleviation of local traffic problems.
I was grateful to the Minister for her responses in Committee and I hope that she will be kind enough to clarify a number of issues for me. First, as the noble Baroness stated in Committee, at present only a minority of local authorities have taken the innovative step of allowing motorcyclists to use bus lanes. Consequently I should like to probe further on the
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provision to which the Minister referred that enables local authorities to exercise the discretionary powers which would allow motorcycles to use bus lanes.
Secondly, the Minister reminded noble Lords that the Secretary of State has powers to permit motorcyclists the use of bus lanes in respect of trunk roads and motorways. The example of the M4 bus lane was given, although it seems to be available for all kinds of things. Is the Minister aware of any plans to introduce these measures elsewhere? In Committee the Minister assured noble Lords that, upon the result of the London trials, the Government would review,
"the guidance, which presently recommends that motorcyclists are not normally allowed to use bus lanes".—[Official Report, 26/10/05; col. 1224.]
Will the Minister inform us when these experimental trials will finish and whether the results will be made publicly available?
Furthermore, will the noble Baroness reassure the House that there will be no repeat of the analytical mistakes made in the interpretation of data in the interim reports on the three London studies? As noble Lords will recall, failure to give proper consideration to the impact of external factors; namely, the extensive roadworks on the A13 portion of the trial, led to somewhat skewed results and misinterpretation of the scheme's road safety benefits. I should be grateful if the Minister would respond to those points and in particular give us some encouragement that what we see as a useful road safety initiative might gain support from the Government. I beg to move.
Baroness Crawley: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for setting out her case so clearly once again. I am afraid that I shall disappoint her in that we probably have not moved on the matter as far as she would like. However, there has been some movement.
As noble Lords will know, the purpose of designating bus lanes is to give priority to buses over other classes of traffic. The more other motorised vehicles are allowed to use those lanes as a statutory entitlement, the more their purpose becomes devalued. I am sympathetic to the principle of improving facilities for motorcyclists, including their use of bus lanes where appropriate. Local authorities have powers to allow other vehicles to use bus lanes if they consider that it would be desirable, and probably a minority of local authorities are pursuing that practice. We do not have the exact figures of the number of local authorities that allow motorcyclists to use bus lanes, but as the noble Baroness has said, the provision is there for local authorities to take up.
The Secretary of State has similar powers in respect of bus lanes on trunk roads and motorways. I am not aware of any plans on the part of the Secretary of State to allow—beyond the M4 bus lane—any further use by motorcyclists of bus lanes on trunk roads. I will make sure that if there are any plans the noble Baroness will know of them by Third Reading. We believe, however, that it should be left to the discretion of local authorities to decide whether they should allow any other vehicles, including motorcycles, to use any of their bus lanes, taking local circumstances into
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consideration. We should not be second-guessing local circumstances of which only local authorities have experience.
Some local authorities have allowed motorcyclists to use bus lanes, for example Bristol and Birmingham, and the Secretary of State has permitted motorcycles and licensed taxis to use the M4 bus lane. There remain concerns for the safety of other road users, particularly cyclists and pedestrians. Motorcycles can be fast-moving small objects, and when travelling in bus lanes they are in a part of the road where some people do not expect them to be. Noble Lords will know that our guidance to local authorities currently recommends against generally allowing motorcyclists to use bus lanes, but we are reviewing the guidance taking account of the trials in London of allowing motorcycles into bus lanes. I hope that the noble Baroness will see some progression.
The main point about the amendment, however, is that while the department can provide guidance—notwithstanding that the guidance may change to become more relaxed and more neutral—the use of bus lanes by other vehicles is something that local authorities should decide depending on the circumstances of each case. It should not be written into primary legislation. I hope in view of this explanation that the noble Baroness will withdraw the amendment.
Lord Swinfen: My Lords, is it not extremely confusing for motorists, particularly motorcyclists in this case, that the law will not be consistent throughout the United Kingdom?
Earl Attlee: My Lords, the noble Baroness referred to the importance of giving discretion to local authorities, but her noble friend Lord Davies told the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, that local authorities should not have discretion about 30 mph repeater speed limits signs.
Viscount Simon: My Lords, before my noble friend sits down, the description of "motorcycle" can include motorcycles that have three wheels. I wonder whether clarification is needed in this respect. Should not the word be "motorbicycles"?
Baroness Crawley: My Lords, we are not accepting the amendment; we are resisting it, and therefore it is somewhat academic to look at the word "cycle" as opposed to the word "bicycle". But I understand the point that my noble friend makes. Certainly it is important to get the definition of a motorcycle absolutely right in any amendment, together with the fact that the motorcycle is a two-wheeled powered vehicle, although some can be customised to have three wheels. I thank my noble friend for that information.
With regard to the point raised by the noble Earl, Lord Attlee, in this case local authorities' experience of their local circumstances is most important. People will be expecting a bus to be in a bus lane. A local
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authority knows about speeds and the timing of congestion and so on in certain areas. While it is not always so, I believe that in this case local authorities should be allowed to use their discretion in coming to a decision with that local knowledge.
I can see the noble Lord's point about there being confusion without a systematic set of standards across the country. However, if local authorities believe that their local circumstances make it appropriate for motorcycles to be in bus lanes, it will be safe for people if there is clear signage. So I think that clear signage is the answer to the noble Lord's concern.
Baroness Hanham: My Lords, I thank the Minister for her reply. I am slightly disappointed because I thought that in Committee we were probably opening a little door to what seems to be a perfectly sensible proposal for road safety. I understand that local authorities may have their own views on this but, equally, I understand that there is consistency in most road usage. However, there is no consistency about buses using bus lanes. While it is not a matter for this amendment, noble Lords will be aware of many occasions when buses have been not in the bus lane, which takes at least half the width of the road, but in the motorists' part of the road. So some even-handedness is required.
Again, I thank the Minister for her reply, although I am not particularly happy about it. As I said, I think that there is room here for a road safety initiative but, having heard what she said, for today's purposes I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
4.30 pm
Clause 40 [Trunk road picnic areas]:
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