Man seriously hurt in fall from rickshaw

The man, who is in his early 20s, was seriously ill in hospital yesterday following the incident in Edinburgh.

The passenger struck his head on the road after falling from the vehicle near to the Sheraton Hotel at about 2:20am, police said.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said he had "severe head injuries" and was last night said to be in a serious condition in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Pedal-powered rickshaws are a common sight in Edinburgh.

Regular calls have been made for tighter regulations after complaints about poor driving and late-night disturbance.

A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it was important passengers make sure they are sitting properly in rickshaws.

She said: "Passengers should remember this is a form of transport, they will be out on the open road and they need to take responsibility. Local councils are going to have to make decisions about whether to allow rickshaws based on their own circumstances."

Currently, bicycle rickshaw drivers only require a street traders' licence and there are no regulations to make sure that they are driven safely.

It is not known which company was operating the rickshaw involved in yesterday's incident.

The manager of Edinburgh Pedicabs, Alex Robertson, which operates most of the rickshaws, has previously insisted its cyclists are given full training and the company investigates all complaints. There are more than 60 pedicabs operating in the city, many driven by students part time.

As pedicabs are not motorised, they are not covered by the taxi code of licensing, but drivers need a police criminal-record check.

In 2001, a 22-year-old woman from Ireland nearly died after her scarf became entangled in the wheels of a rickshaw.

Imelda Hogan, had graduated just hours earlier from Queen Margaret University College when she suffered a broken neck in the accident.

She spent months on the critical list in hospital in Edinburgh but faced years of therapy amid fears she may never speak again.

The move sparked a safety investigation, with checks carried out on the vehicles, which were allowed to continue operating.

Police also appealed for witnesses to a separate road traffic incident in which a 16-year-old boy was left seriously ill.

He was a passenger in a blue Rover 25 car which hit a wall near Wauchope House in Greendykes Road just after midnight on Saturday.

The unconscious teenager had to be cut from the vehicle before being rushed to Edinburgh's Western General with serious head injuries.