Souped Up West End Pedicabs Crackdown

December 9th, 2008 by Jonathan Dudley

The West End’s pedicabs offer an environmentally friendly and decidedly twee alternative to London’s famous black cabs. Being transported around the capital by leg power that’s not your own somehow feels rather decadent, even in the occasionally smoggy, bustling atmosphere of Theatreland.

I must admit, I do enjoy hailing a pedicab at any given opportunity and going on a little jaunt just so I can revel in the novelty of the whole affair. Who needs engines when someone will ferry you across town for £15? The only way I would rather travel in London is in a sedan chair accompanied by the lovely Cheryl Cole, carried by Gareth Gates, Rowan Atkinson,Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jodie Prenger, that would be a trip to the West End.

Despite my continued support, not all is well in the world of leg powered transport. Recently it came to light that up to 80% of London’s pedicabs have been converted to run partially on car battery power. These supercharged transports are hardly going to break the land speed record but they can allegedly reach speeds of up to 20mph.

The London press has labelled the souped up pedicabs “deathtraps” which strikes me as slightly dramatic, but I suppose I’ve never been run over by a speeding rickshaw so what do I know. Recently, there was a near miss in which a pedicab mounted the pavement in Soho, narrowly missed some passers-by and smashed into a restaurant window. So perhaps not deathtraps but certainly not the safest way to get around the city, safest would be the much maligned favourite of days gone by, walking.

The drivers of the battery-assisted rickshaws are allegedly often uninsured and many are said to flout traffic laws, mounting kerbs, jumping traffic lights and overloading their cabs. I doubt all this tomfoolery on the roads of London has done the relationship between the drivers of the pedicabs and the local constabulary any good, so it’s little wonder that we are seeing a crackdown.

To tackle the problem, a series of checkpoints will be set up in the heart of our beloved West End to seize electrically assisted pedicabs and those ignoring traffic legislation. With up to 80% of London’s pedicabs apparently sporting these illegal modifications it looks like a lot of people are going to be forced to walk.

Finally, an excuse to buy a segway.

Careful: You might be on Rickshaw Cam

From News & Observer

RALEIGH -- You might have seen "Taxicab Confessions" on HBO, the show that features late-night New York party people and their tipsy jabbering caught on a driver's hidden camera.

Move that scene to downtown Raleigh, mount the camera on a pedicab and you've got an up-close view of the Oak City's nocturnal spectacle.

Starting this weekend, Raleigh Rickshaw will join with NBC-17 to capture the drama of nighttime rides, then post them weekly on the Web site Raleigh.mync.com.

Raleigh Rickshaw's fleet of bicycle-drawn carriages has grown to more than 20, and the passengers tooling around Fayetteville Street can get saucy enough for quality TV.

"This town is a lot different after 1:30," said owner Donald Mertrud. "I had a couple break up on my rickshaw. He jumped off the bike and said, 'That's it.' We've had people take 50th anniversary rides, those types of things. People kissing or maybe making out or something."

Unlike "Taxicab Confessions," Raleigh's video will be shot with the riders' full awareness and cooperation.

Only two pedicab will have cameras for now, and riders will have to sign a release before being recorded. If they don't want to be on camera, no sweat. Enjoy the ride unobserved.

But if you're on, say, a first date and want to review the post-game video, "You can check out the first date and see how you did."

The stunt feeds a culture that is increasingly on camera. In England, it's estimated that there's a video camera mounted somewhere for one in every 14 residents. A New York Post reporter took a walk through Times Square last year and was captured on 54 different cameras in eight blocks. Raleigh uses them to nab speeders at traffic signals.

But this is meant for pure fun, part of Raleigh Rickshaw's mission to show off the seldom-seen hilarity in a downtown with a sleepy history. Even in downtown Raleigh's post-convention center splendor, with sidewalk crowds outside The Raleigh Times or patrons standing elbow-to-elbow inside Landmark Tavern, there are still a lot of streets where you're looking at empty loading docks, parking garages or the historic marker that celebrates the N.C. Dental Society's formation in 1856.

Maryann Balbo, NBC-17's director of marketing, was skittish Friday about discussing the cameras' soft launch, insisting on speaking off the record, further insisting that all information come solely from the television station, then explaining that news is premature because the pedicabs aren't yet equipped with the proper signage.

But hopes were high for a Friday-night debut, beneath a full moon.

If you're a driver, you tend to get the same questions:

"You have great calves. Can I touch them?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

And you've likely served as designated driver as well as tour guide.

Seat belts at the ready

"If somebody is tipsy, there are seat belts in the back," said Nick Soloninka, manager and a driver himself. "There are people I've had to strap down and lay down in the bike. We've had people vomit off the sides."

Great TV.

But the footage won't be all PG-13. There's sure to be some wonderment.

Take Mayor Charles Meeker's impression of a ride around the Capitol.

"I don't recall the conversations as much as the sight-seeing," Meeker said. "But oh, yeah, the rickshaws are most enjoyable on a warm summer evening with the breeze going past."

To Five Points -- fast!

Or City Councilman Philip Isley: "They're great. I'll tell you what's crazy. I love talking to these rickshaw guys, and the last time we rode one, I asked, 'What's the farthest you've gone?' It was, like, Five Points. On a tricycle. With the girl passed out in back."

Mertrud plans quizzes aboard the pedicabs to get folks talking, starting with, "What shall we name this show?"

But mostly, this collaboration means a privileged glimpse into unseen Raleigh and all its drama under the moonlight -- tears, laughter and burps.

josh.shaffer@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4818

Crackdown on 'souped-up pedicabs'

Police have arrested six pedicab drivers over claims their vehicles have been modified to make them go faster.

From BBC news

A number of the pedicabs, described as "death traps" by Westminster City Council, have been seized in the operation on Thursday evening.

Police said about 80% of London's 1,000 pedicabs have been illegally adapted to run partially on car batteries, allowing them to reach speeds of 20mph.

Many of the drivers are uninsured and some flout traffic laws, officers said.

Last month bystanders narrowly avoided injury after a pedicab mounted the pavement in central London's Soho and smashed into a restaurant window.

In a crackdown on illegal rickshaws, council officials, along with officers from City of Westminster Police and Traffic Unit, set up a series of checkpoints in the West End and seized the electrically assisted pedicabs.

Councillor Danny Chalkley said: "The sheer number of these death traps has left us with little choice other than to take firm action.

"At the moment what should be a fun visit to the West End could all too easily turn into a tragedy for innocent passengers, and I'm not prepared to stand by and wait for that to happen."

Responsible pedicab operators have supported the crackdown which coincides with the council's proposals to install the first-ever designated pedicab bays in London for operators who abide by a code of conduct.

The voluntary code requires all drivers to be insured, undergo training and to have bikes regularly serviced and kept roadworthy.

Graeme Rivett, from London Pedicabs, said: "I am shocked at how in such a short space of time so many cowboy pedicab operators have come on to the streets, and they don't give a damn for the safety of anybody.

"It's a miracle nobody has been seriously injured or killed."