FEMA HAILS MOTORCYCLE SAFETY INITIAITVE
22 June 2008 - Federation of European Motorcyclists' Associations

A giant leap forward for us motorcyclists.

The results from the OECD workshop on motorcycle safety last week may represent a giant leap forward for us motorcyclists, says FEMA President Hans Petter Strifeldt.

The OECD workshop on motorcycle safety held in Lillehammer, Norway, 10-11 June came out with the best possible results for the motorcyclists. On top of the recommendation list comes the fact that training is the most important factor with regard to accident prevention, and that training should be emphasized in all countries. This is something the motorcyclists have known for ages and have demonstrated through concepts like the Initial Riders Training, which was finalized recently. Training should also include other vehicle drivers, e.g. car drivers.

Moreover, when opening the conference, the Norwegian Minister of Transport, Ms. Liv Signe Navarsete made it totally clear that there are no contradictions between a Vision Zero and motorcycles. In the concluding remarks, Mr. Lasse Lager from the Norwegian Ministry of Transport continued by stating that “[after] ten years the Vision Zero has evolved to contain both accident prevention and injury reduction, as that these are of equal importance to the safety of the road users.”
- This effectively puts to sleep any arguments from the nay-sayers: there are absolutely no contradictions between riding a motorcycle and being included in road traffic strategies, Strifeldt comments.

The fact that motorcyclists were present at this workshop is a demonstration of a sound principle: One needs to put the motorcyclists at the table when discussing how to solve challenges facing the motorcyclists.
- It may seem obvious, but this has not been the case in many countries. Actually, an integrated approach where the riders are included from the beginning is so novel that the OECD Secretary General Mr. Jack Short named it “The New Thing”. As riders we can only applaud it, says Strifeldt.

All in all the workshop may herald a new era with regard to motorcycle safety, seen from the motorcyclist’s perspective.
- If the recommendations from the workshop are followed in the continued work, the workshop in itself represent a giant leap forward for us motorcyclists. Then it has finally been taken into consideration that the motorcyclists are the actual experts on motorcycle safety, Strifeldt concludes.

www.fema.ridersrights.org

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