Road Safety Bill [HL]

I thank noble Lords for their contributions. While I am on my feet, I want to thank the noble Lord, Lord Montagu, for all his work over many years in this area. All sides of the House are proud of the work that he has done. I hope to reassure noble Lords that there is nothing to worry about. We know of no European legislation or proposals that adversely affect the private use of historic vehicles. As the noble Earl said, virtually all proposals concerning the technical standards required of vehicles applied to new vehicles entering service after a specific date. We would not expect any suggestion for retrospective application of technical standards to vehicles unless there were unusual and robust safety or environmental considerations. It is particularly difficult to envisage any such circumstances that would be considered proportionate for the relatively small number of historic vehicles that are used privately. Section 43(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 already requires the Secretary of State to be satisfied that no undue hardship or inconvenience will be caused by the application of new construction and use regulations if they are applied to vehicles registered earlier than a year after the new regulations were made. Both the European Commission and the Government would have to justify any provision in a regulatory impact assessment. The Government already undertake such assessments whenever new vehicle standards are proposed, including anything that might affect historic vehicles. We would not support any proposal that could not be justified on the grounds of proportionality or cost-effectiveness. I hope that the noble Earl will feel reassured and withdraw his amendment.