BRITAIN's largest motorcycling group, the British Motorcyclists Federation, have withdrawn their support from the road safety lobby group RoadPeace.
The move follows the publication of a letter sent by RoadPeace to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee proposing that motorcycles be downsized in 'weight, power and speed'.
Writing to Amy Aeron-Thomas, Executive Director of RoadPeace, the BMF have cancelled their membership of RoadPeace pointing out that the BMF have previously objected to Roadpeace's stance on motorcycle safety, but 'now that you have attacked motorcycling yet again with ill-conceived and ill-informed arguments, you have driven us to withdraw our support for your organisation' said BMF Government Relations Executive Chris Hodder.
Taking issue with the Roadpeace letter, the BMF point out that the majority of motorcycle accidents happen to riders of low-powered motorcycles and scooters with a capacity of less than 125cc. In fact a 2004 Transport Research Laboratory report entitled "The Accident Risk of Motorcyclists" concluded that there was no direct link between engine capacity and accidents.
The RoadPeace letter also claims that there is a high rate of motorcycle accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists, but fail to point out that in absolute terms, the actual numbers are small compared to those involving other vehicles. Further, they do not say who is to blame.
The BMF point out that motorcyclists are at least tested, licensed, registered, taxed and insured, whereas cyclists, and perhaps needless to say, pedestrians, do not require any form of licensing to use the road.
As most safety practitioners are aware, the vast majority of motorcycle accidents are caused by other road users, by road defects or by poor road design, but the BMF accepts that a significant number are also caused by inexperience, however, the Government's Motorcycling Strategy aims to address all these issues by improving road design and training while RoadPeace has remained hostile to the Strategy from the outset.
The BMF has also objected to the RoadPeace claim that reducing power could reduce pollution. Modern motorcycles produce less CO2 than the new car average say the BMF but more importantly, due to their ability to make better use of road space, are far more fuel-efficient than other vehicles trapped in heavy traffic congestion.
Commenting, BMF Spokesman Jeff Stone said: "As a responsible motorcycling body, the BMF is represented on numerous transport and road safety committees and joined RoadPeace some years ago in order to contribute to the road safety debate and help such bodies gain a better understanding of motorcycling iss ues. This is one of those rare cases where it sadly hasn't worked."
