Few rickshaw accidents in police records

FEWER than ten accidents involving rickshaws have been recorded by police in the Capital in the past decade, figures have shown.

Lothian and Borders Police said there had been nine accidents since 2000, including one earlier this month in which 26-year-old off-duty soldier Christopher O'Kane died.

Mr O'Kane, 26, from East Lothian, had been celebrating his birthday in the city and was a passenger in the back of the cycle-cab with another man when he is said to have fallen from the vehicle and struck his head on Lothian Road.

Council licensing bosses are currently looking into a review of the pedicab trade amid concerns about its safety.

Figures released by the police under Freedom of Information laws show that only two of the other accidents since 2000 resulted in injury.

The first was in 2001 when a 22-year-old woman from Ireland nearly died after her scarf became entangled in the wheels.

In the second incident, which took place in the Grassmarket in 2006, a pedestrian sustained a cut on the head after being hit by a rickshaw.

In all the other recorded incidents, there were no injuries.