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For your convenience, the entire text of the Response Document follows:
Response to the 2021 ‘Future of Transport Regulatory Review Consultation’
“Modernising Vehicle Standards”
Prepared & submitted by Mr Rick Hulse, National Chairman of the NABD
For and on behalf of the NABD Trustees on 19/11/2021
The National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD)
Registered charity No.1040907 & SC039897
Unit 20, The Bridgewater Centre, Robson Avenue, Manchester, M41 7TE.
Email: office@thenabd.org.uk
Telephone: 0161 749 7050
NABD Website: www.nabd.org.uk
Mr Rick Hulse, 3X-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_XXXXXXXXX-U – Obfuscated for Security
Tel: 0161 4XX 8XXX – Email chairman@thenabd.org.uk – Obfuscated for Security
INDEX:
Page 2: The NABD
Page 4: Consultation
Page 5: Concerns
Page 7: Motorcycle/Vehicle Adaptation
Page 12: Motorcycle/Vehicle Customisation
Page 13: Summary
Appendix A: Photographic examples of the types of control adaptations and
third-wheel adaptations detailed in this report
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THE NABD:
The National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD) is a registered charity, established in April 1991, to support the needs of motorcyclists with disabilities throughout the UK, Eire, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
The NABD is recognised as the world’s leading support group for motorcyclists with disabilities.
Generally accepted as the leading experts on the subject of motorcycling for disabled people, the NABD has consulted with many authorities and interest groups including:
- The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) Medical Group
- The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) – (and previously as DSA & VOSA)
- The Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service (MAVIS)
- The Department for Transport, Mobility and Inclusion Unit
- The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG UK)
- The British Motorcycle Federation (BMF)
- The Federation of European Motorcyclists (FEMA)
- Motability
- The UK Forum of Mobility Centres
- The Guernsey Vehicle Licensing Authority
- The Isle of Man Licensing Authority
- The Quavadis (Disability/Transport) European Parliamentary Group
- The Disabled Drivers Association/Mobilise
Regularly called upon to advise these groups and others on issues relating to the use of motorcycles and motor-tricycles by disabled people and their associated needs as independent motorcyclists.
Authors of those sections relating to disabled motorcyclists in the 2016 publication: The Official DVSA Guide to: ‘Riding – The Essential Skills’.
Consultants to the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on the UK motorcycle test.
A member of The Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service (MAVIS) Consultative Committee from 1999 until its closure in 2007.
Consultants to the Motability organisation on a project to set up a new scheme to make motorcycles and motor-tricycles available through Motability.
Member of the Highways England Motorcycle Safety Working Group
Member of the Highways England Motorcycle Safety Infrastructure Group
Consultant to the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) on the 3rd European Motorcycle Licensing Directive and its effects on people with disabilities.
Consultant to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) Medical Branch on issues relating to motorcyclists with disabilities.
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THE NABD: (continued)
Consultants to the Isle of Man Licensing Authority on issues relating to motorcyclists with disabilities.
Consultants to the Guernsey Licensing Authority on issues relating to motorcyclists with disabilities.
Consultants to the Department for Transport (DfT) & DVLA on motorcycle licensing codes.
Advisors to many insurance companies on issues relating to motorcyclists with disabilities.
Authors of a report that resulted in a number of special exemptions for disabled people within the European staged motorcycle-licensing system (3rd Licensing Directive) which came into force on January 19th 2013.
Producers of ‘Open House’ quarterly magazine, for motorcyclists with disabilities.
The NABD has more than 10,000 motorcyclists with disabilities on its books and has been responsible for directly helping more than 12,000 people with disabilities to enjoy the freedom and independence of motorcycling.
The NABD provides financial grants ranging from £350.00 to £2,000 to assist with the cost of adapting motorcycles, sidecar outfits, motor-tricycles and motor-quadricycles to suit the needs of people with disabilities.
The NABD has been directly involved in the design and development of many of the most popular and successful control adaptations used by motorcyclists with disabilities.
The NABD has been actively involved in the inception of other fledgeling support groups for motorcyclists with disabilities in Norway, Sweden, the USA, Japan, France, South Africa and Portugal.
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CONSULTATION:
This report is the response from the Trustees of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD) to the ‘Future of Transport Regulatory Review Consultation – Modernising Vehicle Standards’ published by the Department for Transport in September 2021.
While the Trustees of the NABD understand that this consultation document would appear to be primarily focusing on issues relating to automated/autonomous vehicles in the future, we have very real concerns that some of the proposed legislation could have a direct negative
impact on the freedom of motorcyclists with disabilities to have manually-controlled machines specifically adapted to suit their needs.
In addition to this, we also have concerns that the possible need for special adaptations to autonomous vehicles in relation to people with disabilities may also be greatly restricted by any legislation that does not fully consider the specific requirements relating to a broad range of disabilities.
Our concerns, in both cases, relate primarily to the ‘Anti Tampering’ aspect of these proposals though other aspects of the proposals could also hamper access to independent transport for people with disabilities, though perhaps to a lesser degree.
These concerns are explained in more detail in the ‘Concerns’ section of this report.
We note that the ‘Introduction’ to the consultation document contains the following statement:
“The Future of Transport regulatory review aims to address areas of transport regulation that are outdated, a barrier to innovation, or not designed with new technologies and business models in mind.”
Perhaps it is worth considering that, if broad based ‘anti-tampering’ legislation had been in place 50-years-ago, it may have made it far less likely that most of the innovative vehicle adaptations now commonly used by people with disabilities would ever have been developed at all, if innovators thought they could face prosecution.
Perhaps the same could also be said about developments such as ABS braking systems, motorcycle side-stand safety interlocks, emissions control systems, air bags and power steering systems?
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CONCERNS:
In respect of the control adaptations currently being used by people with disabilities on motorcycles, sidecar outfits, trikes and quads, each of them could be construed as ‘tampering’ with existing control systems.
Similarly, the conversion of a motorcycle to a trike, which is a very common adaptation utilised by motorcyclists with disabilities, involves ‘tampering’ with control systems, power transmission and suspension systems.
Even the limited range of factory production trikes that are available generally require further adaptation to make them suitable for many disabilities.
Motorcycle/Sidecar outfits also often require the further adaptation of control systems to make them suitable for use by people with disabilities and, in the case of the innovative ride-from-the-wheelchair sidecar outfits, every control system of the motorcycle has to be ‘tampered’ with.
Even some quite straight-forward aspects of commonly used, successful and indispensable adaptations could very easily be construed as contravening the proposed restriction on “removing, reducing the effectiveness of, or rendering inoperative a system, part or component
for a vehicle” as described on page 11 of the consultation document, particularly where that system is no longer required due to the nature of the adaptation or where it has been replaced with a non-standard alternative.
A commonplace example of this would be the bypassing of the safety interlock switch that prevents motorcycle gears being engaged while the side-stand is down. When a motorcycle is converted to a trike, the side-stand becomes redundant and the safety interlock switch is shorted-out to allow the side-stand to be removed.
It is often the case that adaptations are carried-out on motorcycles prior to the point of sale.
This allows the disabled person to purchase the machine with a VAT rating of 0% due to it being specifically adapted to suit a disability. Motorcycle, trike and quad manufacturers and/or suppliers may be less willing to supply pre-adapted machines in this way if there is a risk of them being prosecuted under the proposed legislation to create “a specific offence for
allowing for use or providing a vehicle or NRMM that has had the operations described in the previous 2 points performed on it”, as described on page 11 of the consultation document.
This issue could be further exacerbated by “a new power to require economic operators to provide information, where a service/product they have supplied amounts to or enables ‘tampering’ with a vehicle or NRMM – this would apply in any of the above senses and include requirements to provide relevant information on the quantities of products sold or modified”,
as also described on page 11 of the consultation document.
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CONCERNS: (continued)
A number of commonly-used motorcycle adaptations have been developed into off-the-shelf items, which has greatly reduced the cost of many adaptations while also providing recognisable, reliable, high-quality, easily installed adaptation kits to solve issues relating to a broad range of disabilities.
It is doubtful that any of these kits would have been developed if there had been pre-existing legislation of “a specific offence for supplying, installing and/or advertising, a ‘tampering product’ for a vehicle or NRMM – this would apply where a principal effect of the product is to bypass, defeat, reduce the effectiveness of or render inoperative a system, part or component (the product may be a physical part or component, hardware and/or software)” as described on page 11 of the consultation document.
If such legislation were to be enacted in the future, it could make the supply of these kits unlawful and stifle the future development of other standardised adaptation kits as improved technology becomes available.
Greater detail of specific types of commonplace motorcycle adaptations can be found in the ‘Motorcycle/Vehicle Adaptation’ section of this report.
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MOTORCYCLE/VEHICLE ADAPTATION:
Gear Change Control Adaptation:
The standard gear change control on the vast majority of motorcycles is a pedal operated by the rider’s left foot (on pre-1974 British motorcycles it is a right-foot-operated pedal). This pedal has to be lifted and depressed manually with the foot to enable the sequential changing of gears.
Where a disability precludes the use of the foot to operate a manual gear change pedal, the most common solution is to fit a solenoid-operated electronic gear change kit, such as the Kliktronic Gear Changer, to allow the rider to control the gear changes via two push-buttons mounted on the handlebar.
For Further information see:
See Appendix A for photographic examples of this type of adaptation.
Clutch Control Adaptation:
The standard clutch control on the majority of motorcycles is a hand-operated lever, mounted on the left handlebar. This lever is squeezed back toward the handlebar to disengage the clutch.
Where a disability precludes the use of the left-hand-operated lever, the most common solution is to re-site the lever to the right handlebar utilising a twin-lever unit that allows for the clutch control lever and front brake control lever to be mounted in parallel allowing for independent and/or combined use of both control levers with the right hand.
There are two types of twin-lever unit currently available, The K-Lever2 unit and the PFM unit.
For Further information see:
See Appendix A for photographic examples of this type of adaptation.
Automatic Transmission Adaptation:
Perhaps a less common and more expensive, but definitely growing in popularity, solution to disabilities affecting the use of clutch and/or gearchange are the after-market clutch replacement kits that convert a manual motorcycle transmission into an automatic motorcycle
transmission.
There are several manufacturers of automatic transmission adaptation kits but the manufacturer that currently offers kits for the widest range of models is Rekluse.
For Further information see: https://rekluse.com/
See Appendix A for a photographic example of this type of adaptation kit.
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MOTORCYCLE/VEHICLE ADAPTATION: (continued)
Throttle Adaptation:
The standard throttle (accelerator) control on the vast majority of motorcycles is a twist-grip mounted on the right handlebar. This is rotated with the right hand to increase acceleration and released under control to decrease acceleration.
Where disability precludes the use of a right-hand-operated twist grip throttle, the most common solutions are to either; replace the twist grip control with a thumb-operated lever control or to transfer the twist-grip control to the left handlebar, utilising twin-cable throttle systems to allow for the reversal of the direction of rotation.
See Appendix A for photographic examples of this type of adaptation.
Front Brake Control Adaptation:
The standard front brake control on the majority of motorcycles is a hand-operated lever mounted on the right handlebar. This lever is squeezed back toward the handlebar to engage the brake.
Where disability precludes the use of a right-hand-operated lever, the most common solution is to re-site the lever to the left handlebar utilising a twin-lever unit that allows for the clutch control lever and front brake control lever to be mounted in parallel allowing for independent and/or combined use of both control levers with the left hand.
There are two types of twin-lever unit currently available, The K-Lever2 unit and the PFM unit.
For Further information see:
See Appendix A for photographic examples of this type of adaptation.
Rear Brake Control Adaptation:
The standard rear brake control on the vast majority of motorcycles is a pedal operated by the rider’s right foot (on pre-1974 British motorcycles it is a left-foot-operated pedal). This pedal has to be depressed manually with the foot to engage the rear brake system.
Where a disability precludes the use of the foot-operated pedal, the most common solution is to re-site the lever to the right handlebar utilising a twin-lever unit that allows for the rear brake control lever and front brake control lever to be mounted in parallel allowing for independent
and/or combined operation of both control levers with the right hand.
There are two types of twin-lever unit currently available, The K-Lever2 unit and the PFM unit.
For Further information see:
See Appendix A for photographic examples of this type of adaptation.
NB. It is a legal requirement that solo motorcycles (Powered Two Wheelers) have two separate independently-controlled, brake systems.
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MOTORCYCLE/VEHICLE ADAPTATION: (continued)
Third Wheel Adaptation:
Where disability affects a rider’s ability to manually stabilise a temporarily stationary motorcycle using one or both feet, the options available with the current level of technology involve a ‘third-wheel’ adaptation to provide the vehicle with an intrinsic stability of its own.
Generally speaking, a third wheel adaptation offers the choice of a motorcycle fitted with a sidecar or a motorcycle converted to a motor-tricycle (commonly referred to as a ‘trike’).
As the average age of motorcyclists in the UK has increased over recent years, increasing numbers of older motorcyclists are turning to third-wheel adaptations as age-related issues such as arthritis begin to affect their ability to use PTW’s.
The inherent stability of a third wheel adaptation removes the necessity for the rider to manually stabilise the vehicle at any time.
Third-wheel adaptations provide an essential life-line to motorcyclists who can not utilise a PTW due to disability or increasing age.
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MOTORCYCLE/VEHICLE ADAPTATION: (continued)
Trike Conversion/Adaptation:
The conversion of a motorcycle to a trike most commonly involves the fitting of a purpose built rear subframe, rear suspension, adapted power-train, rear differential, axles and two rear hubs and wheels.
See Appendix B for photographic examples of this type of adaptation.
Almost invariably a trike conversion for a rider with disabilities will also involve additional control adaptations.
In the case of wheelchair users, it is often necessary to adapt both the rear brake control and the gear change control to hand-operated controls, utilising several of the control adaptations
previously detailed in this section.
As trikes are considerably more difficult to manually manoeuvre than PTW’s, it is a common necessity for riders with disabilities to require a trike to be fitted with a reversing mechanism.
The most successful of these are the commercially-available after-market reversible differentials and/or inline reversing gearboxes.
A trike conversion routinely renders the motorcycle side-stand (and, where fitted, the centre stand) redundant and these are most often then removed to prevent them causing safety issues if they become accidently deployed.
It is difficult to see how these types of adaptations/conversions could avoid falling foul of the new anti-tampering legislation that is proposed in the consultation document.
NB. It is a legal requirement that trikes are fitted with a mechanical parking brake. As this satisfies the criteria of being an independently-controlled braking system, it allows for the front and rear motorcycle braking systems to be combined into a single control.
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MOTORCYCLE/VEHICLE ADAPTATION: (continued)
Motorcycle & Sidecar Combination Adaptations:
Though motorcycle/sidecar combinations are somewhat less commonly used than trikes in the UK, there remain significant numbers of people with disabilities who utilise the inherent
stability of motorcycle/sidecar outfits, often in conjunction with various control adaptations, to suit the requirements imposed on them by their disabilities.
As the vast majority of modern motorcycles do not feature a robust enough tubular steel frame to facilitate the mounting of a sidecar, it is usually necessary for a subframe to be fabricated to manage the additional mechanical stresses created by the fitting of a sidecar.
It is also very common for the fitting of a sidecar to engender the need for a customised upgrade to the motorcycle suspension, often including the replacement of the standard motorcycle forks with a more robust bespoke design such as ‘leading link’ forks.
With the relatively recent advent of specialised, commercially-available, ‘ride from the wheelchair’ sidecar conversions, it is likely that the number of wheelchair users utilising motorcycle/sidecar outfits will increase significantly over the next few years; as this type of adaptation provides a new option for people who have difficulty transferring from a wheelchair
independently.
See Appendix B for photographic examples of this type of adaptation.
These ‘ride from the wheelchair’ sidecar adaptations involve all of the motorcycle controls being transferred to the sidecar and the sidecar itself features folding ramps for wheelchair access and locking systems to ensure the stability of the wheelchair and rider within the sidecar.
Fitting a sidecar of any type to a motorcycle, routinely renders the motorcycle side-stand (and, where fitted, the centre-stand) redundant and these are most often then removed to prevent them causing safety issues if they become accidentally deployed.
Given the multifaceted nature of the adaptations involved in this type of vehicle, it is difficult to see how this could avoid falling foul of the new anti-tampering legislation that is proposed in the consultation document.
NB. This ‘Motorcycle/Vehicle Adaptation’ section of this report is by no means meant to be an exhaustive glossary of adaptations used to make motorcycles suitable for use by people with disabilities. It is rather meant to be a snap-shot of the most common types of motorcycle adaptation for people with disabilities to illustrate how easily many of these well-proven and successful adaptations could be construed as being in breach of the proposed legislation.
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MOTORCYCLE/VEHICLE CUSTOMISATION:
Motorcycling in the UK has a long and rich history of individuals ‘customising’ their machine to suit their personal tastes and/or make a statement about themselves and their machines.
The freedom to customise motorcycles, trikes, sidecar outfits and/or quadricycles is a very important aspect of motorcycling to a large proportion of the motorcyclists in the UK and this is also true of a large proportion of NABD members.
It is very easy to see how some of the legislation proposed in the consultation document could be used to legally remove this very important and much cherished aspect of motorcycling from so many people.
It is very often the case that motorcyclists have a greatly heightened sense of pride in a motorcycle when it has been customised to reflect their own persona/wishes, and as such these customised machines are cherished with far more time and attention being put into keeping them correctly maintained and safe to ride.
We can envisage a time when the customisation of vehicles will become increasingly important to ever increasing numbers of people as the advent of autonomous systems is perceived to dehumanise transport and reduce the level of joy that can be experienced by riding motorcycles and/or driving cars.
Any proposed legislation that would curtail the freedom of individuals to customise their personal transport would undoubtedly create a great deal of opposition, which would inevitably lead to campaigns and other organised action to block or repeal such legislation.
Currently the broad outline of the proposed legislation in the consultation document would seem wide-open to being interpreted and utilised to curtail this traditional expression of individual freedom.
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SUMMARY:
The Trustees of the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD) have very serious concerns about the nature of the new legislation being proposed in the ‘Future of Transport Regulatory Review Consultation – Modernising Vehicle Standards’ published by the Department for Transport in September 2021.
While we understand that this consultation document would appear to be primarily focusing on issues relating to automated/autonomous vehicles in the future, we have very real concerns that some of the proposed anti-tampering legislation could have a direct negative impact on the freedom of motorcyclists with disabilities to have manually-controlled machines
specifically adapted to suit their needs.
We also have some concerns that the proposed anti-tampering legislation does not address the fact that, even where autonomous/automated vehicles of the future are concerned, it is
very likely that some adaptations may still be required to make vehicles suitable and/or accessible for people with disabilities.
We have detailed, within this response to the consultation document, many examples of vehicle adaptations that are commonly required by people with disabilities that could be very negatively affected, or even outlawed, by some of the legislation proposed in the consultation document.
Surely it must be better for all concerned, if any proposed legislation is carefully and diligently designed to address only the very specific issues that it is intended to control?
If the proposed legislation is intended to prevent people from tampering with the autonomous control systems used in autonomous vehicles in the future, surely it can be specifically worded to that effect with any ambiguity removed to prevent that legislation affecting unintended targets such as the rights and needs of people with disabilities, or the freedom of expression of individual motorcyclists and/or car drivers?
The Trustees of the NABD are happy to consult further on these issues or any other issues that may have a bearing on the rights and needs of motorcyclists with disabilities.
……………………………………… November 19th 2021
R Hulse
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APPENDIX A
- Kliktronic Solenoid Gear
- Change Actuator
- Kliktronic Gear Change
- Control Buttons
- K-Lever2 Twin Lever Unit
- PFM Twin Lever Unit
- Kliktronic Gear Change
- Adaptation
- Thumb Operated Throttle
- K-Lever2 Clutch Control Adaptation
- Trike Conversion/Adaptation
for a wheelchair user
- Trike Conversion/Adaptation
for a Bi-lateral Amputee
- Ride from the Wheelchair
- Sidecar Adaptation
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