Ann Coffey

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Commons Speech on mini–motors and off-road bikes

Off-Road Vehicles (Registration) Bill

I would like to start by congratulating my Honourable Friend, the Member for Manchester Blackley, for the hard work he has put into bringing this important Bill before Parliament.

Like many other MPs, I receive frequent complaints from constituents, who are plagued by the modern day menace of noisy mini-motos and off road bikes.

They are ridden by youths who show no respect for other people or the environment. Too often, they are bought for these children by adults who show no comprehension of safety or sense of community.

Amongst my many letters and e-mails, I have one from a young couple who were unable to sit in their own garden with their baby daughter all last summer because a nearby field - once full of children playing and families walking their dogs - had been replaced by these monstrously noisy machines.

The couple first approached me in despair after one Sunday in June when the bikes made continuous and uninterrupted noise for  seven consecutive hours.

Another constituent, from Davenport, said that youths were deliberately driving at people in the fields.

I also had a very disturbing e-mail from a woman and her friend who were horse riding on a bridle path in Reddish Vale when they were attacked by three boys on off-road bikes.

The youths ignored a polite request from the women to switch off their bikes until the horses had past.

Instead, they rode their bikes fast, towards the horses, three times. On the third occasion one bike went up the banking while the other two were driven straight at the horses.

The e-mail described what happened next: 

 “At this point my horses, who are both traffic sound sensible cobs understandably, went into panic.

“My horse reared and bolted and I was thrown at full speed onto the hard gravel and stone path. My friend managed to jump off her horse after trying to gain some control and managed to escape with only minor bruising.”

The women then spent ages trying to find the horses, which were caught by a local rider on the lower fields of the vale.  The woman, who sent the e-mail, had to go to the accident and emergency department at the local hospital and had to have time off work with a very bad back. It goes without saying that one of the women could have been killed.

The woman told me that she now doubts whether she will ever use the bridle path again.

It is wrong that people are being frightened away from our public open spaces by selfish youths on these noisy machines. We must reclaim these spaces for our communities.

But, as these incidents make clear, used irresponsibly these machines cause not merely nuisance but danger. It is no exaggeration to say that, in the wrong hands they have the lethal potential of a loaded gun.

The sense of menace caused by these frightening machines is now being intensified in Stockport, because some of the  teenagers involved have started to mask and obscure their faces with scarves or balaclavas so that they cannot be identified and detected. This makes the job of the police even harder.

The impression created is that the youths are getting more confident and reckless. That makes the case for new and imaginative counter-measures more compelling.

Last summer I was very concerned about the level of nuisance in my constituency and I wrote to residents and urged them to report every incident to the police.

I also met with the police and urged the local crime partnership to explore the use of Anti Social Behaviour Orders to ban individuals from using these bikes. I still believe that is a long term solution.

I was pleased that last year the Home Office initiated a six week summer campaign against the bikes. This led to tough enforcement action by the police and resulted in:

over 600 mini-motos being seized or crushed;

90 arrests

And warnings issued to 742 people.

In Stockport, 42 people received warnings and subsequent to that 20 cycles were seized.

After many hours of research I confess to being somewhat confused about what powers the police have in relation to seizure of these bikes and in particular about what circumstances they have to issue warnings.

Greater Manchester Police have said that currently they cannot seize a bike causing a nuisance without first issuing a warning. I am also not sure whether people need to be insured to ride their bikes on public open spaces as opposed to public highways. I would be grateful if, when the minister stands up, he would clarify what he understands to be the law in these two respects.

One of the reasons I am supporting this Bill is because I understand it will strengthen the law for police to seize these bikes without warnings.  I think it is dangerous and a waste of time for police to have to chase around in open spaces trying to catch these youngsters, merely to just give them a warning. The police believe that this Bill will give them a power to seize without warning unregistered bikes or bikes where markings have been erased. This would make it easier and quicker for the police to get more bikes out of action.

I believe this Bill will make a difference. A registration scheme would make the arrest of dangerous and illegitimate drivers easier.

The DVLA has a voluntary registration scheme from the perspective of protecting motor cycle owners. And that is another aspect of this because this Bill would establish the registered keeper, identify the bike at first contact and provide better consumer protection by regulating the market and protecting those people who have had their bikes stolen. It would allow easier prosecution of those found to be handling stolen goods, for example those in possession of motorcycles without documentation.

It would also target suppliers. Currently consumers have no way of knowing whether or not they are buying stolen property, as there are no requirements to provide documentation. A registration scheme would ensure that keeper records were logged and traceable.

And, at last, it would begin to make those adults thoughtless enough to buy potential killing machines as Christmas presents to be held responsible for how they are used. Registration would send out a message to parents that these machines are not toys and that they require control
At the moment it is difficult to track these bikes. Thirteen thousand new off-road bikes were officially imported and sold in the last 12 months and 40,000 illegally imported.

During my research, I was rather shocked to come across a website with a rather unsavourary and aggressive title and logo selling these pocket bikes. If you will excuse the language Mr Speaker, I will tell the house its name. It is called streetbastard.com. I found this interesting because the title in itself makes it clear that the company is clearly targeting its products at clientele who want to glory in making a nuisance of themselves on their streets. The irony of this is that one of the places these bikes definitely cannot be ridden is on the streets. Incidentally, I discovered from the website that a new so-called Dirt Bike will be hitting the streets in May 2007!

I was pleased to hear that a Stockport based firm called Dealer Channel, which brought thousands of dangerous mini motorbikes to Greater Manchester has been put out of business. The company boss was hauled before the courts and fined after he admitted supplying unsafe bikes. The business has now gone into liquidation and about 2,000 bikes have been confiscated and crushed.
 
We already know that complaints about mini motos account for 40 per cent of all anti social behaviour calls to the the police.  But it’s not just about noise nuisance.

The police also tell me that off road bikes and mini motos are at the heart of anti-social behaviour in other, more sinister ways.

The police told me that mini motor bikes are routinely found at the houses of drug dealers when police conduct raids.

Many drugs drop-offs are done using these bikes, which are very manoeuvrable and, once a scarf is wrapped around the driver’s helmet, provide anonymity. This Bill would give police the power to immediately seize these unregistered bikes from the homes of drug dealers. Under current legislation the only opportunity for the police to seize those bikes would be if they were actually being ridden illegally on the road by a drug dealer.

The police would not be able to confiscate them if they were lying idle and unused.

Currently, there is little chance of establishing the owner of a particular bike as most people who buy these off-road vehicles do not log the frame or engine numbers.

If all off-road bikes, including go-peds, mini motors, petrol scooters and quad bikes were registered with the DVLA and had to carry a visible registration number then it would rob the drivers of their anonymity and help prevent them treating the police and their fellow residents with contempt.