SHOCK NEW PLAN FOR ZERO BIKES
(MOTOR CYCLE NEWS AUGUST 24th 2005)
Government could force us off the road by 2020!
By STEVE FARRELL

The Government is looking at a secret transport policy to drive ALL bikes off the road and has even commissioned a report into whether the public will accept the idea.
Last week motorcycle new revealed the hidden agenda behind new European licensing laws to slash the number of bikes on the road (see article below this one). But this week things have got a whole lot worse. MCN has uncovered plans that suggest the Department for Transport (DfT) is looking into adopting a Swedish policy that could see bikes banned altogether.

Sweden's official transport policy, called "Vision Zero", has a target of reducing road deaths and injuries to zero by 2020 - but Vision Zero is really vision of zero bikes.

Claes Tingvall, transport advisor for Sweden's Highway Agency, and author of Vision Zero, has said publicly that motorcycles should be banned to help achieve the target. When interviewed on Swedish breakfast television, Tingvall said: "There is no room for motorcycles in Vision Zero. We must prevent the recruiting of new motorcyclists. Thinking long term I regret to say that motorcycles must go"

Speaking exclusively to MCN this week, Tingvall said: "I guess if you want to make motorcycle 100% safe, it has to no longer be a motorcycle.

According to the DfT, other European countries including Switzerland are also expected to adopt Vision Zero - and the UK researchers are using DfT money to find out whether the same policy would work here. The real concern for the DfT is that an unpopular law could eventually lose the Government votes - and the study is being used to work out the risks of bringing in the radical policy.

A DfT document outlining the research said: "9Vision Zero) will soon be quoted as international best practice and their may be pressure on the UK to follow suit. The research into the policy has been designed to assess potential risks, costs, benefits and opportunities of a 30 - year Vision Zero strategy in the UK"

Researchers at the UK branch of the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), at York University, have already gauged opinion to Vision Zero by asking interested parties in the transport industry to complete a questionnaire, and by conducting focus groups with members of the public.

SEI research leader, Professor John Whitelegg, said "We had 35 - 40 groups with 8-10 people in each. We're now counting their comments on either side. "Vision Zero means asking what we can do to roads and vehicles to make sure injuries don't happen. We've already done it with industrial accidents and aviation, so why not with road transport?" When MCN asked how Vision Zero would be compatible with bikes, SEI researchers Gary Haq said: "I definitely think it will be an issue..... You can segregate pedestrians and cyclists from traffic but motorcyclists are different."

Vision Zero has sparked outrage from Swedish motorcyclists and Maria Nordqvist, International secretary of the Swedish Motorcycle Association (SMC), said;"Of course we went mad. It stirred up hell among Swedish Motorcyclist. Motorcycles can never be so safe that there will be zero casualties."

Antonio Perlot, secretary general for the Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations (FEMA), said " Motorcycles don't fit in the Vision Zero plans. If you're looking at reducing casualties to zero, it's simply not feasible. The plan is incompatible with motorcycle. This is going to be a real challenge to motorcycling over the next five to 10 years

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SECRET PLANS TO PHASE OUT BIKING
( MOTOR CYCLE NEWS AUGUST 17th 2005)
Shocking new laws will halve number of bikes on the road in 10 years
By STEVE FARRELL

Politicians and bureaucrats in Britain and Europe will soon be step closer to realising their secret pans to phase out biking. Bike industry experts say proposed new Euro Laws on how you get a full bike licence are likely to HALVE the numbers of bikes on our roads in the next 10 years

And while the stricter learner system is being introduced in the name of safety, it's claimed that the hidden agenda is simply to slash motorcyclist numbers by making it so complicated to get a bike licence that no-one will bother.
A lower accident rate would still result, though, as thousands of newcomers will be put off getting a bike licence by the extra cost and complexity - less bikes, less bike accidents.

That's the view of Craig Carey-Clinch, policy development director at Britain's Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA). He said:"This is a full frontal assault on motorcycling, Don't be fooled by the smokescreen of a licensing strategy - the intention is just to get bikes off the road.
"We want the Government to be more hardline about this. I think they could be doing more at this stage to stop these proposals,"
At the moment, the Government can only veto European Union, the Government can call the motorcycle issue for debate.

Nick Brown, MCIA director of research, said," While you have a presidency, you set the agenda. Other members can ask you for support on other matters and it's at this stage that the Government should ask for support on this issue. We estimate there to be 30-50% fewer riders within 10 years and virtually none below 25."

Mike Loydall, head of rider training for BSM, claims the new laws would double cost of learning to ride. Hi said." AT the moment training costs around £400 for riders who don't do Direct Access, and there are already hardly any of them. The extra training will add at least £300 to that. "Also, why raise the age for Direct Access from 21 to 24? There are more accidents among 30 -50 year olds."

The European Parliament will make a final decision on the detail of their Directive this autumn, and if approved, the proposals would come into force in 2011.

MCIA legal experts Tom Waterer said: "The Government is saying it's done everything it can to block certain parts, for example to retain access to larger bikes for 17 -year- olds, but that it can't get the necessary support from other member states." Next week we'll be investigating why the Government - and groups representing riders' interests have failed to head off this threat earlier, and what if anything can still be done to oppose it