As the dust begins to settle after the 25th, many things, including the results of our actions, are becoming clear.

First the good news?

Our original estimate of numbers may have been a little conservative it seems. After discussion with the various Police forces it appears that we had a larger turnout than even we first thought, which is definitely a record. I'm certainly not aware of any simultaneous mobilisation of riders for a political cause ever happening before on this scale.

It did mean that many of the Police Forces were caught a little off guard, but their co-operation was generally excellent and feedback from many forces has been positive, especially where the runs managed to keep left, which also provided a much better spectacle for the cameras and passing motorists who could marvel at the numbers and discipline.

In those areas particularly, the political responses are already being witnessed. MEPs who had previously failed to respond to constituents earlier letters are now writing back, though I presume this is only a coincidence and down to a glitch in their email service.

We are recieving communications here at Central office from domestic and European representatives who wonder how they can help and from those who appear, up until Sunday, to have been completely unaware of the issues.
MEP researchers are asking for our advice and there is a real increase in cross party support.

In the European Parliament MEPs align themselves in 'party blocks' and seek guidance from their block on how to vote on certain issues. We are in the process of securing an audience with one of the blocks that we had previously been unable to reach, and yet another has now significantly changed its stance on compulsory ABS.

These really are great leaps forward and proof positive that the demo is still one of the tools in our box of lobbying tricks. Of course, as a tool, its over-use will blunt it quite significantly, so we'll have be very careful when we use it again, and at this stage that may be in the Spring when the Parliament is gearing up to vote on the EU Type Approval and Market Surveillance Regulation.

I have heard talk that some riders are upset about the level of TV coverage the day received, even though it was lead or second story on just about every regional network following news, has been reported in over a hundred newspapers and was covered by (now) over 40 radio stations, with interviews and discussions ongoing- indeed BBC Solent are again discussing the day tomorrow morning.

The good news is that TV directors do not write or vote on legislation, politicians do and we have made great advances in the last couple of days, so the event was certainly a roaring success and everyone deserves a round of applause.

Further action on the streets in the short term will be terribly counter productive to the whole lobbying process, undermining all the incredible work FEMA are doing on our behalf in Brussels, what MAG and the BMF have been doing here and undermining every letter anyone has written.

It will also of course, ultimately damage biking and it's image and any action which is unlawful will only hasten the introduction of more stringent legislation and play into the hands of those who do want to see us off the road.

But let's not be gloomy, the two and three-wheeled community is one that always prides itself on sticking together and we certainly showed we were able to do that at the weekend. It was a truly momentous day, actually strengthed our relationships with the police, especially all those traffic officers who also ride and their bosses, who admired our composure.

Yes, I know there were some instances of riders dicking about and we are still spending a lot of time cleaning up after them, when we could be concentrating on riders' rights, but we always knew there would be a few who didn't quite get the importance of the demo as a political tool.

MAG is certainly stronger, another 5 groups are about to start and membership figures have taken a sharp upward swing. Perhaps even more encouraging, was hearing from members like Chris, who, unable to ride on the day, rang the office to donate the cost of the fuel they would have used. That really is the spirit of the riding community.

Now that we have the politicians' attention, we'll be needing to concentrate our efforts in certain areas and we'll be issuing guidance soon on where we'd like your help as things develop and we approach the postponed IMCO (Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee) vote on the 22nd November.

In the meantime, if you still feel like being a bit political, please sign the Get A Grip petition and we'll get closer to achieving consistent grip levels too
> http://www.getagripuk.org/Main-content/petition.html


--
Kind regards

Paddy Tyson
Campaigns Co-ordinator
MAG (UK) - Motorcycle Action Group

Tel: 01926 844064
Mob: 07717 345605
www.mag-uk.org
www.ridersarevoters.org

MAG (UK) Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 2681957

The registered offices are 79 Church Hill, Northfield, Birmingham, B31 3UB



Les'

Response from one Labour MEP...

Dear XXXXX

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the regulation on the approval and market surveillance of two- or three-wheel vehicles affecting motorbikes which is currently at first reading stage in the European Parliament.
...
Following the Commission proposal, the draft report has been authored for the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) by Dutch MEP Wim van de Camp, an enthusiastic motorcyclist. The amendment deadline of the report has passed and following correspondence from constituents, my Labour colleague Catherine Stihler, who is a member of the IMCO Committee, has tabled amendments with Socialist colleagues to take comments from constituents into account.

After the vote in IMCO the Rapporteur, Mr van de Camp and shadow rapporteurs representing each of the political groups will negotiate the finer details of the report with national Governments and the Commission to find a solution which is fair and acceptable for all parties involved.

Compulsory ABS

The Commission proposal recommended compulsory ABS to be fitted to all newly manufactured 2 or 3 wheeled vehicles. Following consultation with the department of Business and Innovation it is my understanding that compulsory ABS is not appropriate for all vehicles or terrains. The current proposal takes this into account with an exemption for enduro and trial bikes which are the bikes which are most affected by ABS. As a compromise, we believe that ABS should be fitted to all new vehicles, with the default position of the ABS being engaged on starting the engine. However, there should be the option of starting the engine to disengage ABS for dirt tracks or rocky terrain. Compulsory ABS should not apply to lower powered motorcycles as the cost/benefit ratio is not sufficient, this is a position which the Socialist shadow rapporteur will encourage in negotiations with the Council.

High Visibility Jackets

Concerns have been raised that it will be mandatory for all riders to wear high visibility jackets. This lies outside the scope of the report, and as a result does not feature. There is a level of discussion in some Member States to introduce proposals related to high visibility jackets but please be reassured that this will not happen in the UK and the rumours that it will are completely untrue.

Banning of older motorcycles from Urban Areas

Older motorcycles will not be banned from urban areas in this report. Again, this rumour has surfaced from discussions by some national Governments in Members States but rest assured the UK will not ban older motorcycles from being used anywhere in the UK.

Anti Tampering legislation

Labour MEPs are aware of the value to the single market of aftermarket sales and servicing. Further, we understand that there is a deep rooted cultural history of self-maintenance and modification. Please be reassured that this regulation is not intended to stop this practice. The anti-tampering legislation is designed to stop dangerous modifications from taking place and to put a stop to those practices which put riders lives at risk
Single vehicle approvals (SVA) will continue to be legal for those who wish to make modifications to their motorcycle. The majority of the suggestions made in the draft regulation are already in place in the UK at present.

Mandatory on board diagnostics (OBD)

Most PTW manufacturers producing new models are already compliant with the rules regarding OBD in the draft regulation (OBD stage (I)). This section of the draft regulation will not provide police with any details of the ride behaviour of motorcyclists; rather it is in place purely to warn the rider of a serious malfunction to enable them to bring the motorcycle to a controlled stop.

The next stage of the legislation is a committee vote which is due to take place on October 17th though is expected to be delayed to allow more time for negotiations. Following the Committee vote the report is likely to be voted by all MEPs in mid-November. If you wish to be kept informed of the progress of this legislation, please let me know.

Yours sincerely
Stephen S Hughes MEP

North East European Constituency Office
Room 4/38
County Hall
Durham
DH1 5UR

Tel: 0191 3849371
Fax: 0191 3846100

itll never happen here, .....

Thanks for your post RF, interesting reading.

Les.