Motorized two-wheeler awareness campaign

In order to reinforce a reduction in mortality from motorized two-wheelers deemed too low, Road Safety is today launching a national awareness campaign on these vulnerable users. No more morality, make way for realism !

From today, any onlooker can find himself in the helmet of a motorized two-wheeler (2WD) driver: you travel quietly in the streets of Paris on your motorcycle or scooter until that without warning, at a crossroads, the car just ahead of you turns left. Shock is inevitable. You glide before crashing, motionless, to the ground. A simple sentence follows the scene: "Now, a car pulling out without warning, you know what it is".

This is the scenario for one of the four new Road Safety spots broadcast on TV to make everyone aware of the vulnerability of 2WD users. The other three clips are also shot in a first-person view: the viewer is in the place of a driver in different situations (opening a door without looking, overtaking on the right, taking a turn too quickly in the countryside).

Motorized two-wheelers at the heart of road safety concerns

"We try to show a reality", explains Michèle Merli, interministerial delegate for road safety before adding:"there is no moralizing aspect here, we show an accident, everyone to draw their own lessons".

This awareness campaign is part of the logical continuation of a discussion initiated with all the players in the world of 2WD. A year later, while Michèle Merli admits that the efforts made previously in terms of road safety were aimed above all at motorists, in the discharge of 2WD the current changes direction. "Taking 2WD into account becomes obvious and it is, moreover, less stigmatizing", reassures Eric Thiollier, General Delegate of the French Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC).

Although 2WD only make up about 2% of traffic, in 2009 they accounted for 28% of fatal accident victims. Just before summer, which as every year will see two-wheeled traffic increase, the government therefore wishes to warn everyone about the dangers of driving a motorcycle or a scooter..

Along with the TV spots, an educational site on driving a motorized two-wheeler should be put online "soonInternet users will find practical advice and information on maintenance, equipment, etc..

Technical inspection and compulsory training

In the meantime, Michèle Merli has announced various upcoming measures: the Interministerial Committee for Road Safety (IRB) wants in particular to put an end to the unbridling of mopeds by strengthening checks by the police and by reaffirming its desire to establish a technical control for cyclists in the course of next year (read).

On the training side, seven hours of driving instruction will be compulsory from July 2010 for all B license holders who want to acquire a 125 cc. This training will also be compulsory for driving motorized tricycles, including MP3 LT (read).

On June 16, a new plenary session will take place between all the actors of the "motorized two-wheeler" consultation which should take stock of these measures taken by the government..

Maxime PONTREAU

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