Happy Holidays to all, especially motorcyclists in Europe who dodged one of the stupidest ideas in years. We’ve got our hands on one of the latest emails from FEMA (Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations) and it says the “different speeds for motorcyclists” idea has been shot down.
We first told you about this different-speed-limits ideas back in October. You can read the whole story here; the important part is below. As FEMA explained the rule changes then:
The rapporteur proposes differentiated speed limits for holders of A1, A2 and A motorcycle licences. This will lead to situations where motorcyclists will be confronted with other, larger, and heavier, vehicles with higher speed limits on the same roads. We consider this a dangerous situation for already vulnerable road users and for other road users because this will lead to car drivers “pushing” (keeping to little distance to vehicles in front) motorcyclists and more overtaking manoeuvres. Furthermore, numerous studies and statistical information show that most incidents in which motorcyclists are involved, even crashes with critical ending, happen at relatively lower speeds on rural and urban roads, where speed limits are usually well below 100 km/h. Only 8% of the motorcycle fatalities occur on motorways. Lower speeds limits for certain kinds of vehicles that are allowed on all roads do not contribute to road safety and will bring extra risks for some categories of road users like younger motorcyclists. We strongly advise to reject this proposal for safety reasons.
In other words: Newer drivers would be restricted to speeds that would not allow them to keep up with traffic. Dumb, dumb, dumb, and it’s no wonder FEMA’s reaction to this (and many other bad ideas in the EU proposals) was frank criticism.
Well, months later, we now see that that idea, at least, is a no-go for now. FEMA’s latest email says the idea “fell during the vote in the Transport and Tourism Committee and will not be part of the final TRAN report.” Good. FEMA’s general secretary, Wim Taal, said this was a major victory for the EU motorcyclists’ lobby:
Different speeds for different licence holders is the most ridiculous and dangerous proposal I have heard in a long time. This would not only discourage a lot of road users to switch to powered two-wheelers, it would also put motorcyclist in an unacceptable unsafe situation. A victory like this once again proves how important it is to have strong motorcyclists’ organisations throughout Europe.
That’s 100 percent correct, and it does make you wonder how much motorcycle safety could be improved if we improved cooperation and updated the focus of the motorcycle riders’ representative organizations across North America.
Despite this win, you should note that the EU regulators are planning to make other significant changes to moto licensing—see FEMA’s list here. Major changes include mandatory testing to keep your license (done every few years), uploading your license to a smartphone for digital ID, and a two-year probationary period for beginners.
