If there is one thing the French nation loves more than any of the finest cuisine, it's a good old protest. And fair play to them, when they do take to the streets, they don’t muck about!
Just this month has seen huge protests taking over Paris, with an estimated 60,000 bikers across France all showing their opposition to planned mandatory motorcycle technical inspections. The mandatory inspection, a bit like our own MOT, has been touted for a while now, and motorcycle groups have managed to push it back once already. The Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC - which translates to The French Federation of Angry Bikers and I find that quite hilarious!) is siding with the bikes, obviously, and highlighting statistics that show only 0.3 per cent to 0.4 per cent of accidents are due to a defect. It counters with the argument that a claimed 30 per cent of accidents are down to road conditions, highlighting this as a greater reason for concern.
The protests have reached such a point that the FFMC has had to condemn an arson attack on an inspection centre that resulted in ‘significant material damage’. That incident took place around midnight on 25 April. The perpetrators stuffed motorcycle tyres with rags and lit them leading to the damage. Even the most ardent supporter of the cause should agree that’s a step too far.
The FFMC, which is a member of the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations (FEMA) is now planning to lobby the French government further on the matter, and while that seems futile, the fact that it has already been pushed back in 2012, and forced back on the table in front of lawmakers, will no doubt give French bikers a degree of positivity.
