Still time to save biking

There’s still hope that the European Parliament can be prevented from rubber stamping new licence rules which will decimate motorcycling.

On Monday (Mar 27) the Council of Ministers nodded through the third EC Driving Licence Directive.

See related stories link (below, right) for details.

The Council wants MEPs to give the Directive a clear run through the European Parliament with a simple ‘formal reading’. That would mean – among other complexities – that you would have to be 19 (rather than 17) to ride anything over 125cc and the age for direct access tests would rise from 21 to 24.

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But the BMF is calling for a full Second Reading at which they hope the sense of removing the bike elements will become clear. They want bike licenses dealt with in a separate review in three years and a full review of the safety evidence.

And they have issued a complaint about the way in which the EU’s institutions have dealt with the whole issue.

Spokesman Trevor Magner said: “This is typical of the lack of democracy in the EU, treating its citizens with contempt.”

The BMF says of the new licence plans: “They are unduly complex, will act as a disincentive to anyone contemplating taking up motorcycling and, due to their complexity, will be difficult to interpret, apply and enforce. In themselves they will do nothing to improve road safety but their complexity will lead to less compliance with a possible negative effect on road safety.”
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The BMF is calling on the UK Government and other EU Governments and Members of the European Parliament to request the motorcycling proposals are deleted and revisited at a later time

It has written to all UK MPs asking them to press Roads Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman to be more robust in supporting the motorcycle community’s position at the Council of Ministers and to more diligent in seeking allies from other EU member Governments. Dr Ladyman abstained in Monday’s vote.

Trevor Magner explained: “It’s outrageous that the EU has got away with this with apparently no opposition… I further find it odd that the UK Government has claimed that it was unable to find allies to support its reservations about the motorcycling proposals when we now know that the Swedish Government has made exactly the same claim!”

The BMF is also attending the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) Motorcycling Conference at Salisbury City Hall, on Sunday April 23 and urging all motorcyclists and MEPs, regardless of political affiliations, to attend.