§ Mr. AdleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made towards the introduction of regulations under the Motor Cycle Noise Act 1987; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter BottomleyThe Department is circulating for comment draft regulations to be made under this Act, for which my hon. Friend deserves much credit. The regulations will require all replacement motorcycle exhausts and silencers offered for sale to be marked to show that they are identical to the original equipment or that they conform to British Standard AU 193 or that they are not for use on public roads.
In view of the European Commission's recent proposals for a Community directive on replacement silencers for motorcycles we have made it clear that we shall amend the regulations to implement this directive as soon as it is adopted by the Council.
Those regulations will enable us to curb an important source of excessive motorcycle noise.