Mr. James Nix:

On the regulation point, it is unfortunate that the European Commissioner has no plans right now to regulate the shape of light-duty vehicles. It is something we have checked on but we are almost at the end of the European Parliament's term. It will end next May, with the European elections taking place in early June. With no proposals on the horizon, the issue really is over to member states. It relates back to one of Deputy Farrell's points. We are suggesting the use of weight as a proxy for harm across a number of areas, including energy emissions and vehicle safety. In the context of harm to others, there is what the makers of US pick-ups call the outside lane intimidation factor. That is basically where the vehicle has such an aggressive grille that when it moves onto the overtaking lane, other cars give way.

However, the exact same issue of the intimidation factor applies in an urban environment. We know it does. Is it harm to others if a child is afraid to walk or parents are afraid to leave these children to walk to school? Without action at EU level, it will be up to national parliamentarians to decide how to regulate this issue, certainly in the next two to three years.