The curious legal decision by Lord Malcolm in the Court of Session to uphold the ban on pedicabs because they cannot be fitted with roll-cages and seat belts has an interesting corollary ("Reeling over rickshaw ban ruling", The Herald, March 20)
.Lord Malcolm based his decision largely on the notion that, while pedicabs would not travel at high speed and were hence not inherently dangerous, "the same cannot be said of other vehicles which might collide with a pedicab".
The solution to this ruling is thus obvious: slow down the fast traffic. Happily, there is strong popular support to reduce the default speed limit to 20mph across the majority of Glasgow's roads. Glasgow City Council is slowly implementing this policy and, once it is widespread, the objection of Lord Malcolm disappears, and by implication the council can no longer refuse to licence pedicabs on these safety grounds.
I therefore urge the council to accelerate its roll-out of 20mph speed limits across the city. Once this is done, I look forward to my first zero-emission pedicab journey.
Bob Downie,
66 Mansewood Road,
Glasgow.
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