From here you can access the Featured Motorcycle Issues that we are involved in, these will involve the motorcycle itself and usually regarding technical matters from emissions to theft.
For European Issues – consultations – campaigns – Click Here
We are also monitoring motorcycle issues and involved at Government Departmental level and lobbying in the background, setting the ground work, for the future.
Over on the NIBikers.com forum riders have voiced their concerns regarding the practice, at MOT test centres, that testers are lifting bikes fully onto their side stands to test front and rear wheels and bearings.
DVA Health & Safety Section has now been made aware of this practice of using the motorcycle side stands to raise the road wheels off the ground and Test Centres have been informed that such a method cannot be used.”
The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has highlighted on their website a video produced by the Safer Roads Foundation – “The critical importance of the “Automatic Headlights On” (AHO) function for Powered Two-Wheelers (PTWs) submission to the Automotive Unit of DG Enterprise and Industry.”
This call to use UNECE specifications sets a dangerous precedent for future issues, that technical regulations already agreed in committee can form the basis for EU Directives on legislation which – according to ETSC can be modified in a couple of weeks without proper checks and balances.
Right To Ride waits for the European Union (EU) Commission to publish its draft legislation for a new Framework Directive which will possibly see motorcyclists restricted from modifying their bikes and restrictions to 100 bhp as well as imposing mandatory ABS brakes on EU manufacturers.
While we wait to see exactly what new rules and regulations the EU Commission want to impose on motorcycling, unsafe, unregulated and pollutant motorcycle imports from China continue to flood the EU markets that have passed Type Approval and are flouting present regulations.
The European Commission (EC) on Road Safety has recommended a solution for “Dangerous Motorcycles”, which is that (Electric) power assisted pedal bikes and tilting three wheelers could become acceptable alternatives in the near future for some existing groups of PTW users (that’s motorcyclists in normal speak).
The rise of the (electric) machines is upon us. How painful will prising our grip from the throttle of our internal combustion engine be?
Motorcyclists could be paying less VED (Vehicle Excise Duty) – Road Tax – if the same CO2 emissions based VED scheme was introduced for motorcycles that is already in place for cars – and from April 2010, for new car purchases.
But they won’t unless the motorcycle manufacturers supply CO2 emission information. Unlike car manufacturers who have reported CO2 emission figures for years as part of the European type approval system, motorcycle manufacturers do not state these figures.
High on the European Road Safety agenda is focus on passive and active Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) to reduce road casualties.
Drawing together stakeholders from within Europe: from the Europe Union (EU) Commission through to user organisations, an initiative called e-Safety claims that:
“eSafety brings together the European Commission, industry, public authorities and other stakeholders to accelerate the development, deployment and use of eSafety systems – Intelligent Vehicle Safety Systems – that use information and communication technologies in intelligent solutions, in order to increase road safety and reduce the number of accidents on Europe’s roads”.
Northern Ireland has the lowest level of motorcycle theft in the UK (includes scooters and mopeds).
A study carried out by Carole Nash, is the most comprehensive annual study of its kind since the Home Office last published the Motorcycle Theft Survey in 2005.
The study analysed over 230,000 claims from their customers and used this data to assess the biggest risk areas.
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