Safety concerns over G-Wiz runabouts

• DfT unhappy over rules that cover Reva G-Wiz
• Poor crash results show urgent review needed
• Reva says no serious injuries reported

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The Department for Transport has raised serious concerns over the safety of quadricycle-based cars such as the Reva G-Wiz.

The DfT says safety rules for quadricylces didn't cover the machines being used as the basis for small city cars, and that a review of the European regulations covering them is urgently needed.

While cars such as the Reva G-Wiz conform to quadricycle regulations, serious safety concerns were revealed in preliminary car-style impact tests conducted for the DfT.

Roads minister Stephen Ladyman said: 'Given increasing environmental concerns, new vehicles that qualify as quadricycles have come to the market. It is right that we consider the regulations for this type of vehicle and whether safety regulations should be made more stringent.

'Now that we have the initial findings of our tests we will be taking this up with the European Commission.'

GoinGreen imports the G-Wiz, which is made by Reva Electric Car Company (RECC) and said: 'The health and safety of our customers is paramount. As a company focussed on environmentally and socially responsible driving, we welcome informed debate or Government initiatives to make quadricycles/electric vehicles an even safer means of urban transport.'

GoinGreen says 20 million miles have been covered by G-wiz owners worldwide without reports of serious injury, but doesn't say how many accidents they have been involved in so far.

It also says that the average speed of G-Wiz cars in London is just 10mph, although that's still 2mph faster than overall average traffic speeds in the capital.