§ 6. Mr. Whiteheadasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now consider prohibiting the manufacture of chopper style high handlebar bicycles for children, in view of recent statements on their safety record.
§ Mr. PeytonI have arranged for special studies of this matter to be made by my Department.
§ Mr. WhiteheadIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that that answer will be widely welcomed? I accept that reputable manufacturers of these high rise children's bicycles have included some safety factors—such as handlebar height restrictions and warnings about double riding—but a recent article in the British Medical Journal suggests that there was an accident rate of about 69 per cent. for these bicycles though they form only 20 per cent. of the overall total. As children's lives are at risk, a departmental inquiry is probably the best way to get at the facts and see the whole national picture, so that the risk will not be intensified.
§ Mr. PeytonI very much appreciate the restraint with which the hon. Gentleman has approached the matter. I am sure that he is right in saying that an inquiry is necessary, and I can tell him that the largest manufacturer in this country was the first to suggest a visit by an official from my Department.
§ Mr. FowlerWhile accepting and agreeing with what my right hon. Friend has said, may I ask him to recognise that the survey to which the hon. Member for Derby, North (Mr. Whitehead) referred was a limited one, including only 11 cases? Will my right hon. Friend refer to a much more extensive American survey, which showed that there was no extra risk from this kind of bicycle?
§ Mr. PeytonMy hon. Friend is right. The survey on which the article in the British Medical Journal was based was a limited one, and it is important that further inquiries are made before anybody reaches a conclusion.
§ Mr. WhitlockWill the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that any form of transport can be dangerous if wrongly used or unscientifically modified, as has happened with a number of conventional bicycles which children have recently modified? Would he agree that the Raleigh chopper, as distinct from other types of high rise bicycles for which, unfortunately, the word "chopper" has become a generic term, is a safe bicycle, and that, as demonstrated by the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. Fowler), it has undergone extensive tests by independent bodies in this country and in America? If the right hon. Gentleman does not accept that, I hope that he will come to Nottingham and see the great care and attention that is devoted to safety factors in the design of the chopper bicycle.
§ Mr. PeytonI do not think that the hon. Gentleman need concern himself unduly. Nothing that has been said so far carries any reflection against the Raleigh Company. It was that company itself which responsibly suggested a visit by an official from my Department, and the visit will take place very soon.