HC Deb 20 July 2000 vol 354 c323W
Mr. Ben Chapman

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted under section 30 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for being drunk in charge of a bicycle. [131244]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Information for 1989 to 1999 taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database is given in the table.

Number of defendants prosecuted for the offence of riding a pedal cycle under the influence of drink or drugs, England and Wales, 1989–99
Year Number of defendants prosecuted
1989 261
1990 211
1991 191
1992 108
1993 105
1994 71
1995 75
1996 85
1997 103
1998 98
19991 84
1 1999 data are provisional

Mr. Bob Russell

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when on-the-spot fines for cyclists riding on the pavement were introduced; and how many have been imposed. [131062]

Mr. Charles Clarke

Cycling on the pavement was made a fixed penalty offence on 1 August 1999. The fixed penalty is not an on-the-spot fine: payment is not required on-the-spot and the person receiving it can challenge its issue in court. In the period August to December 1999, 39 police forces in England and Wales issued 570 fixed penalty notices for the offence of cycling on the pavement; figures for the other four are not available.