‘Speed limiters for bikes will follow road pricing’ say Greens

Road pricing for motorcycles will soften us up for the introduction of automatic speed limiters, according to the Green Party.

New pay-as-you-go-style charges will allow discounts to be offered to riders or drivers of vehicles with speed limiters fitted and lead to an acceptance of more intrusion from traffic management schemes, a senior member of the Party said.

Onboard devices equipped with satellite positioning and digital speed limit maps would be capable of slowing vehicles down by cutting power and applying brakes if the speed limit was broken.

MCN exposed Government track tests last year of a Suzuki Bandit 650 fitted with the technology, called Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA). 

Jenny Jones, Green Party representative on the London Assembly, which guides the policy of London Mayor Ken Livingstone, said: “I think that psychologically when you start to bring together all these different projects that are going to influence the way traffic runs… it’s sometimes easier to coordinate a couple together so people will start accepting that this is the way things are going.”

The Commission for Integrated Transport, a key advisor to Government on transport policy, said last week it was planning research on the effects of introducing a ‘voluntary ISA system across the road network’. 

A spokesman for the commission said encouraging take-up through road pricing discounts was an “interesting idea”. “A sophisticated road pricing scheme would certainly be able to do that,” he said. 

The news came as MCN and riders’ rights group Rider Connect called on motorcyclists to join us in London on October 20 for a mass ride against road pricing for motorcycles.

Be part of Ride for Rights 2007 to celebrate biking and help make our voice heard.

Get MCN, on sale Wednesday, September 19, 2007, to find out why the Greens see motorcycles as central to speed limiter plans.