Members of the Council's environment scrutiny committee were probably wise to postpone a decision on the appeal by Bradford garage owner Kim Langford for light motor-cycles and mopeds to be allowed to use bus lanes. Mr Langford is certainly right when he says that the riders of this type of vehicle are at risk on the district's roads, which are already busy and likely to become busier still as people desert the unreliable trains and return to their cars.

Bus lanes are vastly under-used. For hours of every day they occupy a third or a half of the width of the road, forcing the rest of the traffic into the one or two remaining lanes. It is this traffic - the cars, vans and lorries - that the riders of mopeds and low-powered motor-bikes must contend with under the present rules, which allow pedal-cyclists to use the bus lanes.

Apparently more young people are buying and using these motorised cycles. That is surely something to be encouraged if cars are the alternative. They take up far less space on the roads.

It is argued by cyclists' groups that sharing the bus lanes with motor-cyclists could threaten their safety. Those fears are understandable. They already share the lanes with buses and hackney carriages. Motorised bikes would undoubtedly add to the risk.

The key question, though, is: would allowing motor-cyclists into bus lanes present a greater threat to pedal cyclists than the motor-cyclists face if they are forced to continue in the traffic mainstream? Hopefully current national research will provide an answer to that for when the matter next comes before the committee, to enable an informed decision to be taken.