Road safety – Jean-Luc Nevache: after alcohol, motorized two-wheelers are the priority –

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Jean-Luc Nevache: after alcohol, motorized two-wheelers are the priority

Road safety - Jean-Luc Nevache: after alcohol, motorized two-wheelers are the priority -

The interministerial delegate for road safety invited representatives of the main motorcycle press titles to lunch on Tuesday in order to discuss the policy to be followed in terms of motorized two-wheelers in France.. Report.

The successor of Michèle Merli (read) to the post of interministerial delegate for road safety, Jean-Luc Nevache, wanted to go to lunch with the motorcycle press … on a motorcycle! As a passenger of course – even if he claims to have owned several motorcycles in the past – but on a motorcycle all the same.

Indeed, according to the new interministerial delegate for road safety, this "situation" is decisive for better tackling the problems of motorized two-wheelers, the first of which is undoubtedly the number of deaths each year….

Motorized two-wheelers, dangerous by nature

"In 2010, 704 people were killed on motorcycles and 248 on cyclos, which globally represented nearly a quarter of the deaths on our roads", underlines Mr. Nevache by indicating that it is necessary"find the means to reduce this mortality".

Regarding the mortality rate, one thing could very easily improve the score of motorcycles and mopeds: correctly reassess – upwards, therefore – the rolling stock of motorized two-wheelers in France !

The National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (OSNIR) is indeed based on an estimate of 1.4 million vehicles established by the ACEM (the organization which represents the motorcycle and scooter industry in Europe) which seems to be slight…

In addition to this statistical artifice, users of motorized two-wheelers must repeat to the authorities that the practice of two-wheelers is intrinsically more dangerous than that of the automobile: the lack of protection naturally makes us more vulnerable..

An argument that the delegate does not contradict, quite the contrary: "there is a real concern with the equipment of the rider, in particular its price which is still too high", he believes.

"Today, only the wearing of a helmet is compulsory", remark Jean-Luc Nevache before asking us if it should not be"perhaps extend this obligation to other items such as gloves or boots, for example ?"

More complete equipment … and mandatory ?

Indeed, if protecting your head with a helmet is necessary (one in two deaths is linked to a blow to the skull), this single shield is clearly insufficient. And journalists note during their runs that more and more bikers are wearing duly fitted jackets and pants, or even wearing back protectors reserved not so long ago for use on the track. !

The scooter less dangerous than the motorcycle

"According to our studies, the scooter is less accident-prone than the motorcycle", reveals Jean-Luc Nevache, who explains it in particular by the greater volume of the scooter, first useful to be noticed by other users, then beneficial in case collision or fall. On the other hand, most scooter riders circulate in the city center, at lower speeds than those of bikers in the open countryside. Hence the clashes or less serious accidents. One more prejudice that flies away ?

"French bikers remain less well equipped than their neighbors", observes however the person in charge of road safety. But if the Germans for example rarely go out without their leather, it is also because their insurance strongly encourages them! Moreover, one does not use in Germany motorcycles – and even scooters! – to get to work every day or to find bread, but to ride and travel.

Would the French agree to have to put on high boots and a back protector – CE standards, please – to pick up the hot croissants on Sunday morning? Some fans of the painful cocktail tongs / 125 already have difficulty putting on a pair of shoes to walk to the bakery…

Continuing his momentum, the delegate mentioned the possibility of creating an equipment "pack" that could be acquired during training or when purchasing the first motorcycle..

"This price should be integrated by practitioners, and it will be necessary to ensure that professionals limit the cost of this set as much as possible, and I also undertake to do so during future meetings with them.", solemnly declared Jean-Luc Nevache in front of his guests.

Public enemy n ° 1

Alcohol is currently the priority of the Road Safety and Traffic Delegation. "Last year 11 million checks were carried out, so on average every driver should be checked once every four years". A statistic that surprises more than one:"many tell me they never get checked. This is normal, because 60% of the checks are carried out on the nights from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday, near the nightclubs", he continues. Logical therefore, that" commuters ", Sunday bikers and" old "bikers over 25 years are only very rarely checked. !

The delegate multiplies the interviews with the entire two-wheeler profession: "to tell you, after the fight against drink driving (and also on the handlebars apparently, Editor’s note!), two-wheelers are our priority".

Jean-Luc Nevache thus claims to spend about a quarter of his time on this crucial issue. And after almost four months of work, he begins to understand the problem of two-wheelers in France..

"Awareness of motorists is very important", realizes the delegate:"we must break this logic of confrontation "cars against motorcycles", which is also rife with bicycles, pedestrians, etc., and relaunch "Biker for a day" operations for example".

Sadly, "the image of the biker is catastrophic in France"deplores our host in all sincerity. A perfectly correct observation: what biker has never heard from a relative:" Naaaan, you we know that you ride well but the others, they are crazy, crazy, unconscious, to lock up, scare me, are wrong (cross out unnecessary mentions, Editor’s note)! "

The biker: young thug or old fellow ?

The biker is no longer the young black leather thug of the 70s! The average age of the biker continues to decline and that of the buyer of a new motorcycle is now approaching fifty. "In the accident statistics, moreover, we can see that this age group is very affected because they drive less and no longer have the same reflexes "", notes Jean-Luc Nevache.

"In order to get to know the bikers better, the Ministry of the Environment will launch a vast survey of 20,000 motorcyclists. We will have a precise image on the rolling stock and on "who is the French biker" (read about it, Editor’s note).

Gold, "to speak positively on two-wheelers, it will be necessary to clean up the ranks", via – if necessary – new regulations, warns the delegate who in particular imagines the possibility of legislating the back-up of queues.

The eternal proposals in this area therefore resurface: limit the ascent to a single file and control the speed differentials – easy with current technology – in particular, in order to allow the motorcyclists responsible to decongest cities … and the less reasonable to to bail out the state coffers knowingly, unlike today where the vagueness of the situation leads to more or less seriously "motivated" fines.

MOT and 100 hp ?

Another sulphurous subject was also discussed: that of technical control … Lack of adequate infrastructure, "that of cyclists, mentioned for questions of unlocking is postponed", quite simply. As for motorcycles (motorcycles and scooters of 125 cc and more), it is"not even programmed" !

As for the law on 100 horses, after having feigned a deaf ear – "what 100 horses? I’m talking about road safety and you’re talking about speed and power … we won’t get along", jokes the delegate – Jean-Luc Nevache is content to kick in touch:"a day will come, with a European directive…"

Oh yes, "one day my prince will come" on his beautiful motorbike of at least 200 horsepower. Because as a reminder, this value is in no way incompatible with the 50 km / h to be respected in the city, or even with the 130 km / h on the motorway ….

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