Question
To ask the Chief Constable if there is a PSNI or legally enforceable position on ‘beer bikes’ using pedestrianised areas in Belfast City Centre and if this issue has been considered by Police in the context of pedestrian safety.
Response
The legal position regarding ‘beer bikes’ is that they fall outside existing regulatory frameworks. They cannot be treated as a vehicle being used for hire or reward; nor are they street traders; nor are they committing offences under Council bye-laws.
They are, however, accepted as falling within the definition of a bicycle
This means that they, in common with every other cyclist in Belfast City Centre, should be excluded from the pedestrianised areas of the city without exception.
This presents significant challenges for policing:
1. The aspiration to get people out of cars and using sustainable transport is something that is shared across multiple Government Departments, primarily for environmental and health reasons.
2. Cyclists are amongst the most vulnerable road users in society and putting them in conflict with buses, taxis and other traffic in the city is not desirable.
3. The Belfast Bike scheme has been a huge success for both tourism and local residents and a number of their docking stations are adjacent to the pedestrian zones; albeit their terms and conditions advise that cyclists should not be using the pedestrian zones.
4. Increasing use of courier businesses in the City Centre.
5. There are many points of access to the pedestrian zones which are impossible for police to continually monitor. Nor is every access point signed with the prohibition.
The net result is that, in the interests of public safety, police monitor and enforce the manner of the cycling rather than the technical aspect that cyclists are within the excluded zone, with a range of potential offences under road traffic legislation.
Returning to the specific query relating to ‘beer bikes’ – I can advise that the Belfast City Centre policing team has established a good working relationship with the proprietors of these business ventures, with the result that issues can be quickly addressed.
Significantly, pedestrian safety is not the primary complaint we receive (we are aware of a single complaint from a pedestrian who reported being struck), rather it is noisy rowdy behaviour and reports of street urination, particularly on Friday and Saturday afternoons.
Interestingly, Amsterdam, which is where the ‘beer bike’ concept originated, has banned them from the City Centre and they now operate in a suburb where less conflict with pedestrians is evident. This, however, would be a matter within the remit of Belfast City Council, rather than the Police Service.
Looking to the future, police have requested that a number of cycling offences be brought under the scope of Fixed Penalty legislative provisions, thereby providing officers with an expedient, on the spot means to deal with errant cyclists
John Blair - Alliance