Road safety – The Economic and Social Council recommends the establishment of motorcycle technical control –

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The Economic and Social Council recommends the establishment of motorcycle technical control

Road safety - The Economic and Social Council recommends the establishment of motorcycle technical control -

In an advisory opinion voted this afternoon, the Economic and Social Council recommends the establishment of a mandatory technical control for motorcycles and cyclos, like what has been practiced in cars since 1992.

The regional economies and regional planning section of the Economic and Social Council, the consultative body providing advice to government and assemblies, has been working since March 14, 2006 on a report entitled "Road and traffic safety: the responsibility of the various actors".

In its opinion, adopted this afternoon almost unanimously by the plenary assembly (189 voters including two abstentions), the Economic and Social Council recommends in particular the establishment of a "compulsory technical inspection for motorcycles and mopeds".

The goal? "Improve the quality of the fleet and reduce the risk of accidents due to poor maintenance", explains Philippe Da Costa, the rapporteur of the section of regional economies and regional planning, while specifying that"this is not the main measure of our report"(170 pages, Editor’s note).

The advisory body, which did not consider it necessary to hear representatives of biker associations during its preparatory work to counterbalance the position of victims’ associations in particular, is based in particular on the British example of roadworthiness testing (MOT Testing) to assert that "technical faults are frequent on motorized two-wheelers".

"In Great Britain, such a control made it possible to raise the technical level of vehicles in circulation significantly.", assures the Economic and Social Council.

The Council also cites the 2004 MAIDS study on motorized two-wheeler accidents (read) to state "that a technical fault had contributed to the accident in 5% of cases (problems mainly related to the wheels and braking".

In reality, the MAIDS study does not allow such conclusions to be drawn since, on the contrary, it shows an extremely low percentage of "technical factors"directly causing the accident (0.7%, mainly related to the tires). It therefore seems difficult to say the least to assimilate, as the Council does, the 4.1% of"various causes"noted by MAIDS – which by definition relate to failures other than technical – or technical failures that did not directly cause the accident (secondary causes).

"In France, opposition to the establishment of a technical control is all the more lively as the motorcycle fleet is recent as a whole.", recalls the Council (read in particular), while specifying that"Road Safety is in favor, in particular to counter the practices of unclamping engines".

The report further advocates for motorcycles, "in order to reduce the incidence of driving faults and ensure better protection for their drivers, the generalization of a certain number of equipment installed until then on high-end vehicles such as airbag, ABS or chip indicating the tire inflation status (TPMS, Tire Pressure Monitoring System)".

The Economic and Social Council – whose opinions are not compulsory but merely advisory – also recommends to "changing the place of road education in formal education". In short: develop the educational continuum throughout compulsory education,"from kindergarten to high school, in correlation with the learning of gestures that save". A recommendation claimed for years, in particular by the French Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC), but which is unfortunately the eternal forgotten of successive road safety policies.

Regarding automatic radars, the advisory body wants to be more measured than the government: by triggering "a collective awareness of motorists which translates into more peaceful driving", these measures made it possible to"significantly reduce the number of fatalities and accidents", estimates the Economic and Social Council.

But the automated sanction control is only "one of the reasons that led to the improved results, it is not the only", specifies the rapporteur Philippe Da Costa, at the microphone of Site."In writing this report, we were not in the debate that appeared a fortnight ago on the issue of the disappearance of signage", indicates Philippe Da Costa."The fact remains that (…) the stake for the gendarmerie is not necessarily to make figures: that is to say that the sanction control must be placed in the places where it is intended to prevent the risk of accident. It must be a way of raising citizens’ awareness and educating them about the risks".

That is why "the sanction control must be accompanied by this sign", considers Philippe Da Costa personally:"it would be damaging to lock up this case there (automated sanction control, Editor’s note) in a logic of fear of the gendarme". Phew! Will the government be sensitive to this stance a little more nuanced than the skilfully organized media hype about radars?…

Eric MICHEL

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