Road Safety Bill [HL]

I am about to say almost that. Common sense, as the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, implored on us, is about to prevail. I can understand the noble Lord’s desire to allow the use of flashing lights on pedal cycles, and I share his interest in that area. However, our lawyers have informed us that the finer points of cycle lighting are regulated under secondary legislation, so such an amendment should be handled in a statutory instrument. However, I hope that the noble Lord, Lord   Hanningfield, will be pleased to hear that the department undertook a public consultation exercise to amend the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations to permit the use of flashing lights on bicycles as part of a package of amendments. The response to that proposal was generally favourable. A statutory instrument to implement it has not yet been brought forward because several other subjects dealt with in the same consultation were more controversial and required further consideration. In response to my noble friend Lord Berkeley, that was the reason for the time lapse. We now intend to bring forward a statutory instrument amending the lighting regulations—by the end of this month, we hope, and almost certainly by the end of October. I hope that, with that explanation, the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.