EU motorcycle laws cost Britain millions in new test centres ... just so riders can do emergency stops at precisely 31mph
tinyurl.com/6qjsyh
So, Britain is spending millions of pounds to build new test centers as test can't be taken at quieter streets of limit 30 mph.
So, for extra 1 mph we are building new test centers??? @#$%!
A subject should be taught at schools as "Common sense"...
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Another advantage of being a member of the European Union along with HIPS, forced recycling,26,000 word directives on duck eggs........and plenty others....
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With regard to the new tests as a whole, I find it ludicrous that motorcycle licenses are becoming harder to obtain. Powered two wheelers, apart from being about the most fun you can have with clothes on, are a great answer to congested roads, and conservation of scarce resources (a 500 twin commuter can do well over 50 mpg).
I welcome reviews of training of motorcyclists, and the desire to reduce casualties, but the current system could have been tweaked rather than taking on this ridiculous approach. A big part of motorcycle casualty reduction would involve education of car drivers, but this seems to be repeatedly ignored. Of course some bikers are crash with no other vehicles involved, but a heck of a lot are "taken out" by cars pulling out on them, or changing lanes without looking.
I agree with the OPs "common sense" remark.
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I'm always careful about anything that passes as "news" in the Daily Fail.
In the wording for the recently overhauled motorcycle test in Germany it says "emergency stop from approximately 50km/h to standstill". I would guess that if what is printed in the article is true, and there really are new test centre going to be built at taxpayers' expense, it sounds more like empire building by some civil service department than something dictated by the EU.
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Another advantage of being a member of the European Union
Rubbish -- this is either a stupid overreaction by government (what about the 40mph roads that don't get much traffic?), or it's a piece of spin by the source of this story intended to stir up anger amongst the proletariat.
The fact that the source is the Daily Mail lends weight to the latter theory.
Edited by jase1 on 14/09/2008 at 14:22
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>>The fact that the source is the Daily Mail lends weight to the latter theory.
I've just read the story, the source is almost certainly the shadow roads minister quoted - taking a chance to have a go at the Government, which is his job.
The story is backed up by a quote from the Driving Standards Agency and, to a lesser extent, by the quote from the guy who runs the driving/riding school.
In this case, the Daily Mail is merely the publisher.
The moral here is: Don't shoot the messenger.
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Almost every story in the Mail is either anti-government or anti-EU. They have a lot of 'previous' on this sort of story, its just propaganda for the sheeple.
A friend of mine is a motorcycles instructor and the new EU test has been known about for a long time - this is a non-story.
The new test is in two parts - an off-road test first (which includes emergency stops and swerving around an object etc etc) and then if the candidate passes that they go on the road. The initial part of the test is off-road because it includes riding which could be potentially dangerous if done on public roads, especially in the busier parts of the country.
The stop is from minimum 50kph (31mph). It has to be 'approximate' because a motorcycle speedo can't be read to 1 part in 30 and the test centres will not have high-accuracy equipment to read the speed - so most riders will be riding faster than 31mph, say an indicated 35mph or so. Obviously the tests centres are not being built just for the 31mph emergency stop - that could be done on a 40mph limit public road.
Its not much of story when you know the facts and the EU test seems a fair response to the high levels of casualties amongst new riders and problems of riding in congested traffic conditions.
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A good, balanced post qxman.
So if the DM isn't responsible for this and is only the messenger, this kind of lays the blame at the door of the Tory spokesman. A rather cheap opportunity to stir up resentment of the Government and the EU if you ask me.
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So if the DM isn't responsible for this and is only the messenger this kind of lays the blame at the door of the Tory spokesman. A rather cheap opportunity to stir up resentment of the Government and the EU if you ask me.
More likely a DM journo called up the Tory MP for a quote. One of the most famous DM 'stories' (from years ago) was the one about the EU legislating that all bananas must be below a certain maximum curvature. This is cited as an example of the 'madness of the EU'. What they neglected to mention was that these were guidelines introduced at the behest of the banana industry (something to do with packing and shipping). Unfortunately no one ever follows these stories up properly, and the odd time a retraction is printed its at the bottom of page 44 in tiny font.
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I'm still waiting for someone to point out where the Daily Mail story is inaccurate.
It says EU regs have pushed some of the motorbike test off-road, at a cost to someone, somewhere.
Then some Tory bloke moans about it. Well, that's politics for you.
Don't suppose it was the Mail's best story that day, but it's a big paper to fill and not every tale can be a world exclusive.
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I'm still waiting for someone to point out where the Daily Mail story is inaccurate.
The story implies that test centres are being built because aspects of the test are to be carried out at 31mph rather than 30mph (i.e. massive cost due to 1mph speed difference - 'bonkers EU' type stuff) and that ministers failed to notice this. This is inaccurate. The speed is a red herring (e.g. parts of test could be done on 40mph public road if speeds above 30mph are required) - the test centres are being built because half of the test has to be done off-road. Its just propaganda.
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