“NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE STRATEGY ONLY A STARTING PLACE FOR DECENT MOTORCYCLE POLICIES” SAYS INDUSTRY.
22 February 2005 - Motor Cycle Industry Association Ltd

Today’s publication by the Government of the first National Motorcycle Strategy (NMS) has been welcomed by the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI).

However industry figures said that although the strategy lays a ‘bedrock’ of initiatives which effectively ‘mainstream’ motorcycling in Department for Transport (DfT) public policy, much more needs to be done to turn the strategy into a solid set of policies which can address the safety, access and security needs of motorcycle users.

The NMS is the culmination of five years of work by Government in partnership with the motorcycle community. A key stage in this process was the publication of the Final report of the Advisory Group for Motorcycling in August 2004. This report from the biking community to Ministers contained a large number of recommendations, many of which feature in the NMS.

The Strategy recognises that an increasing number of people are turning to motorcycles and scooters in order to beat congestion as well as riding bikes for leisure. Among other points, the DfT say that the strategy aims to ensure that:

· motorcycling is recognised as a ''mainstream'' mode of transport.
· transport planning and infrastructure decisions fully take motorcycling into account.
· the attitudes and behaviour of both drivers and motorcyclists is focused on looking out for each other.
· pre-test and post-test training continues to improve, making it attractive to riders.

MCI’s Craig Carey-Clinch said: “The publication of the strategy is extremely welcome and we pay tribute to the work of the organisations, Ministers and government officials who were involved. However, MCI feels that the strategy is only a starting place. There is much which will need to be done to develop a set of decent policies for motorcycling and Government needs to recognise that it needs to take more positive steps in the areas of training, traffic integration and safety.

“The majority of the NMS proposals are welcome; particularly the proposed actions to ensure that transport plans cater for motorcycling. However, MCI feels that the DfT’s fence-sitting position on bus lanes is disappointing -- enough time has been spent looking for reasons which don’t exist to keep motorcycles out of bus lanes. MCI is also concerned that no proposals have been put forward to fund the hugely successful Bikesafe programme. In addition, nothing has been said about the publication of the long-awaited register of post-test rider trainers -- which seems to be delayed for inexplicable reasons.

“It seems clear that the NMS provides a valuable foundation stone, on which motorcycle policies can be built, however after five years of discussions, MCI had hoped for rather more in the way of decisive and positive action in some key areas which are important for motorcycling and motorcycle safety.”

www.mcia.co.uk

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