§ Mr. Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will amend the road traffic regulations to enable Class 3 vehicles to use bus lanes; and if he will make a statement. [126187]
§ Mr. HillI have no plans to amend regulations to permit Class 3 vehicles to access bus lanes.
193WThe use of bus lanes by those vehicles, which are limited by Regulation to a maximum speed of 12.8 kph, would impede the flow of buses. That would clearly undermine the purpose of bus lanes which is to afford buses greater priority over other vehicles.
There is also the question of safety. We would be extremely concerned about the safety of Class 3 users travelling in small, slow moving vehicles immediately in front of or behind some of the largest vehicles on our roads.
Where Class 3 users consider that the road conditions are unsuitable for them to travel on the carriageway we would strongly recommend that they continue the journey on the footway where they can legally travel at up to 6.4 kph. We believe that is more appropriate than providing them with access to bus lanes.