Metropol

You may have heard of the Swedish "Vision Zero" proposal to reduce road deaths to zero by 2020. This could soon be going EU wide and involves completly banning all motorcycles off the road.

If you want to keep your freedom as a motorcyclist then please sign the petition at this site and tell anyone else you know to aswell.

We will fight this, we need to keep riding.

What a ridiculous idea. Ban everything that has ever killed anyone.

Most motorcyclists are killed by cars. Therefore it's the cars which should be banned 'cos they kill drivers too. Kitchen knives kill people. Ban them. Oh, electricity kills people. Must turn that off. And fire. Well that's clearly dangerous.

I could go on, but you get the idea...

My reaction to this is to want to read more into the subject, I'm skeptical that they plan to ban "all motorcycles".

It's not motorbikes that kill people; it's the person in control of it!

It's not cars that kill people, it's the person in control of it!

It's not knives that kill people, it's the person that wields it!

It's not guns that kill people it's the person with their finger on the trigger that does that!

Like Marksi, i could just go on and on and on. So, let's just ban people from being on the road and wrap ourselves in cotton wool and bubble wrap.

Honestly, some people should be banned from making rules.

I think if I didn't do the job I am doing now I think I might be the most ruthless traffic cop in the country.

Yesterday I passed a middle-aged woman driving a car (at approx 50mph) on a bendy country road who was on her mobile phone and eating an ice cream at the same time.

I would have banned her from driving for life. Instantly. If I was able, obviously.

I think everyone should have to pass a bike test before being able to drive a car. It teaches you so much more about awareness of what's going on round you, and unfortunately (but necessarily) that you have to assume that every driver on the road is out to get you.

My car has a louder horn than a motorbike, therefore I am superior to them on the road.

My dad broke his back in 1977 when he crashed his bike. Motorcyclists drive like maniacs anyway.

How many times have you been driving along a busy B-road in a convoy of traffic, and about half a dozen twats on bikes zoom past on the white lines with traffic coming in both directions? Too many times.

The only place I can see that bikes have any purpose is in London where traffic rarely gets above 10mph in the day time.

marksi wrote:
I think everyone should have to pass a bike test before being able to drive a car. It teaches you so much more about awareness of what's going on round you, and unfortunately (but necessarily) that you have to assume that every driver on the road is out to get you.

I agree with you wholeheatredly there Marksi. It's not just the awareness of everything around you a motorcyclist takes into consideration they also pay thought to the road conditions. Every motorcyclist i know is a far superior driver than those who have never ridden a bike.

marksi wrote: I think everyone should have to pass a bike test before being able to drive a car. It teaches you so much more about awareness of what's going on round you, and unfortunately (but necessarily) that you have to assume that every driver on the road is out to get you.

Can't say I agree with that. I don't have any sense of balance [me on a bike is not a pretty sight], so should I not be allowed to drive?

Fireboy wrote:

marksi wrote: I think everyone should have to pass a bike test before being able to drive a car. It teaches you so much more about awareness of what's going on round you, and unfortunately (but necessarily) that you have to assume that every driver on the road is out to get you.

Can't say I agree with that. I don't have any sense of balance [me on a bike is not a pretty sight], so should I not be allowed to drive?

Ok, so there would be exceptions, but you get the general idea.

Jamez's point is valid too. There are many complete tossers on bikes, who think that just because they are on a machine that can do 180mph, they should do that on a B road approaching a blind corner. But just as you can't say that everyone who drives a certain type of car is a bad driver, you can't say that everyone who rides a bike is a nutter.

And of course bikes are much more environmentally friendly... but I've yet to understand why some people deliberately make their exhausts noisy. But then I don't understand why some car drivers put neon lights underneath their vehicles...

Jamez wrote:My car has a louder horn than a motorbike, therefore I am superior to them on the road.

I'll take that to be a joke.

My dad broke his back in 1977 when he crashed his bike. Motorcyclists drive like maniacs anyway.

My dad nearly lost his foot in a bike crash in the 80's, but he still rides, and not like 'a maniac'

How many times have you been driving along a busy B-road in a convoy of traffic, and about half a dozen twats on bikes zoom past on the white lines with traffic coming in both directions? Too many times.

It happens, but how many times have you seen a bunch of twats in a badly souped-up Nova come screaming past, nearly shoving you into a ditch?

The only place I can see that bikes have any purpose is in London where traffic rarely gets above 10mph in the day time.

Mopeds are handy in London (no congestion charge) but bikes are useful everywhere, and are a lot more fun than cars.

babyben wrote:My reaction to this is to want to read more into the subject, I'm skeptical that they plan to ban "all motorcycles".

Go have a quick scan through page 2 of Motor Cycle News at your local newsagents.