Post by derek on May 1, 2013 22:02:54 GMT
Wrong Proposal At The Wrong Time
3rd April 2013
Recently the UK MEP Brian Simpson (Chairman of the Transport And Tourism Committee), astounded motorcyclists with his comment at the end of a discussion about the Road Worthiness Testing (RWT) proposal (which his committee is tasked to examine on behalf of the European parliament) that he was astounded that 12 member states do not have testing for motorcycles and more importantly, that they are the “biggest death carrier on our roads.”
In our opinion it was pretty clear from the way he said it, that he was making a defiant statement
So what! - if Mr Simpson has an opinion and uses that to influence the debate and to make a point, then grown up lobbying needs to step in to intelligently challenge his point of view. For example it appears that Mr Simpson is a steam train enthusiast, so if anybody could have offered Mr Simpson a chance to be on the footplate of the Flying Scotsman we might have got his attention – whatever it takes!
Norway
Meanwhile Mr Simpson might want to add to his astonishment, a letter sent by the government of Norway. Norway is not a member of the European Union but through the European Economic Area (EAA) Agreement has implemented the present directive and the new proposal would be relevant for this country.
This is outlined in a letter from the Norwegian Minister for Transport to the German MEP Werner Kuhn who is Rapporteur in charge of the file for the TRAN Committee and thus the European Parliament.
The letter, which has been reproduced by the Dutch rider’s organisation MAG Netherlands also outlines the opposition to the plan for motorcycles to have mandatory RWT (‘MOT’). This position of the Norwegian Transport Ministry is reported as being mainly due to the influence of NMCU (Norsk Motorcykkel Union, the riders’ organisation in Norway. NB: Norway does not have RWT for motorcycles.
As we in the UK already have MoT/RWT testing for motorcycles (Powered Two Wheelers) our concerns are not about the mandatory introduction of RWT for our bikes, but in the content of what is to be tested and the frequency of testing, even though the proposal promises minimum standards.
Parallel Universe
What interests us is that the Commission and the TRAN Committee appear to live in a parallel universe. Countries throughout Europe are struggling to keep afloat economically. These proposals will require enormous investment and cost.
It is fascinating that the Commission and TRAN Committee have both ignored the Council of Ministers, which has made quite a significant number of changes to the original proposal.
Surely a letter from the Norwegian Minister of Transport (Norway is not a country to shy away from road safety issues, nor is NMCU) should sound the alarm that from where we are sitting, it seems that it’s just the wrong proposal at the wrong time.
Read the full article on Right To Ride EU - www.righttoride.eu/?p=11071
Issued by
Trevor Baird
3rd April 2013
Recently the UK MEP Brian Simpson (Chairman of the Transport And Tourism Committee), astounded motorcyclists with his comment at the end of a discussion about the Road Worthiness Testing (RWT) proposal (which his committee is tasked to examine on behalf of the European parliament) that he was astounded that 12 member states do not have testing for motorcycles and more importantly, that they are the “biggest death carrier on our roads.”
In our opinion it was pretty clear from the way he said it, that he was making a defiant statement
So what! - if Mr Simpson has an opinion and uses that to influence the debate and to make a point, then grown up lobbying needs to step in to intelligently challenge his point of view. For example it appears that Mr Simpson is a steam train enthusiast, so if anybody could have offered Mr Simpson a chance to be on the footplate of the Flying Scotsman we might have got his attention – whatever it takes!
Norway
Meanwhile Mr Simpson might want to add to his astonishment, a letter sent by the government of Norway. Norway is not a member of the European Union but through the European Economic Area (EAA) Agreement has implemented the present directive and the new proposal would be relevant for this country.
This is outlined in a letter from the Norwegian Minister for Transport to the German MEP Werner Kuhn who is Rapporteur in charge of the file for the TRAN Committee and thus the European Parliament.
The letter, which has been reproduced by the Dutch rider’s organisation MAG Netherlands also outlines the opposition to the plan for motorcycles to have mandatory RWT (‘MOT’). This position of the Norwegian Transport Ministry is reported as being mainly due to the influence of NMCU (Norsk Motorcykkel Union, the riders’ organisation in Norway. NB: Norway does not have RWT for motorcycles.
As we in the UK already have MoT/RWT testing for motorcycles (Powered Two Wheelers) our concerns are not about the mandatory introduction of RWT for our bikes, but in the content of what is to be tested and the frequency of testing, even though the proposal promises minimum standards.
Parallel Universe
What interests us is that the Commission and the TRAN Committee appear to live in a parallel universe. Countries throughout Europe are struggling to keep afloat economically. These proposals will require enormous investment and cost.
It is fascinating that the Commission and TRAN Committee have both ignored the Council of Ministers, which has made quite a significant number of changes to the original proposal.
Surely a letter from the Norwegian Minister of Transport (Norway is not a country to shy away from road safety issues, nor is NMCU) should sound the alarm that from where we are sitting, it seems that it’s just the wrong proposal at the wrong time.
Read the full article on Right To Ride EU - www.righttoride.eu/?p=11071
Issued by
Trevor Baird