OXFORDSHIRE County Council has released a paper outlining its transport and connectivity plans which is clearly biased against those of us that ride a motorcycle.
The document goes on at length about how championing bicycles, walking and public transport will the environment but continually misses the point that motorcycle do indeed ease congestion, pollution and provide a perfect transport solution for cities like Oxford. For the most part, the old narrow inner-city streets in oxford are too small for conventional vehicles to get through comfortable, making a bike seem (to us at least) like an obvious choice.
Rather than just side with the pedal power and walking, the paper – which is available for all to see here – goes onto to brand motorcycles and their riders as dangerous polluters, setting a worrying precedent given that the paper is free for all of the public to read.
Just two of the anti-motorcycle statements read: “Statistical evidence suggests motorcyclists are a danger to themselves” and “Motorbikes are mostly still using fossil fuels to run, meaning they are environmentally unsound, not sustainable, and contribute to air pollution”.
The BMF has now picked up the case and are chasing the council to have the anti-biker rhetoric dropped from the official paper.
Their Chairman, Jim Freeman, has stated:
“The Oxfordshire Transport Panel, dominated by the Conservatives' Yvonne Constance, G.A. Reynolds and Les Sibley (also Council Chairman), have cynically used the current COVID-19 crisis to attempt to force through the adoption of this outrageous Transport Plan.
"The BMF urge all members to be especially vigilant at this time in scrutinising local authorities and other bodies, who may use this crisis to ‘bury news’ concerning similar discriminatory attitudes and moves.
"The BMF’s directors and staff, along with regional members like John Broad, are redoubling our guard - lockdown doesn’t mean that we can all take a holiday. We urge any member who is aware of any local issue to contact the BMF”
