A proposal in the European Parliament states that motorcycles should be made to adhere to different, lower speed limits in order to reduce road accidents.
The logic behind the idea - which comes from the rapporteur of the European Parliament, Karima Delli - is clear. If motorcycles, which are involved in a disproportionate amount of road accidents relative to the percentage of road traffic they account for, are made to go slower, they will, of course, be involved in fewer accidents and therefore road safety will increase.
Right?
Well, not necessarily. As the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations (FEMA) points out, making motorcycles go slower than cars will only increase the impatience of car drivers trailing the slower motorcyclists.
The result of that increased impatience could be a reduction in road safety because drivers of four-wheelers (or more) may drive with less distance between themselves and the motorcycle ahead of them, and be more likely to make a risky overtake.
In addition to this, the proposal details that there should be different speed limits for different motorcycle licence holders, between A1, A2, and A, with the limit rising for more advanced licences.
We all know that motorcyclists are vulnerable on the road. They are vulnerable because of the reality of being sat on the vehicle being piloted compared to being sat in it, the size of a motorcycle compared to almost any other vehicle and the associated lack of visibility, and public perception. This proposal seems likely to increase that vulnerability further.
Other proposals from the rapporteur include removing the flexibility of EU member states which allows them to set lower age limits for certain licences. The rapporteur also proposes that the age limit for the A1 licence (125cc up to 11kW) should be raised, and that direct access to the A licence should not be available from the age of 24 years.
