MAG’s Move on Motorcycling manifesto was published and perfectly timed for the general election campaign. Many of you contacted your candidates prior to polling day, now we urge you to contact your MP’s.
Share the Move on Motorcycling manifesto
To get the issues we want raised on the agenda for candidates, we need all MAG members to familiarise themselves with the manifesto, share it with any other biker they know and of course ensure that every MP in every constituency has seen it. We need members help in spreading awareness of the manifesto by all means available. Word of mouth and social media are great tools to aid with this, share it on your pages, share it to your groups and raise the topic with your friends.
Download the PDF version of Move on Motorcyling
For those who prefer information in video rather than text format please see the MAG YouTube channel where you will find the 4 part Move on Motorcycling series.
Watch, comment, and share them all.
Contact your MP
MAG is encouraging members to write to their new MPs with the key message of highlighting three key decisions that the new Government needs to deliver. The processes for all three were started before the election:
- a decision to drop proposals on ICE motorcycle sales,
- completion of the extended motorcycles in bus lanes consultation, and
- sign off on launching a review of the motorcycle licence.
Don’t delay, contact your candidates now!
Hackney motorcycle charges face crowdfunded legal challenge.
Hackney Borough Council is facing a crowdfunded legal challenge to their motorcycle parking charges. Success could have national implications.
In a demonstration of strength of opinion and determination amongst motorcyclists in London, a legal challenge has been filed against Hackney Council. Hackney Council plans parking charges for residents’ motorcycles at the same level as cars. Motorcyclists commuting to work in Hackney will face charges up to £10 per day for parking.
The case will be heard on 23rd January. This places a deadline on the crowdfunding campaign. Donations have slowed. As of the end of October 24 the fund is at just short of 60% of the £20k target. If you can spare some cash SLM would be grateful of your support, and please do let all your riding mates know about the campaign. A successful outcome could have significant implications not just in Hackney, but in every council area where the urge to generate revenue from your bank account is unlikely to recede.
Find out more about the Park It campaign here.
Including the recent victory in Bath which saw Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES) Council withdraw plans to introduce emission-based charges for motorcycle parking.
A glimmer of hope for motorcycle insurance.
The recent announcements by Louise Haigh of a new Insurance Task Force carried all the usual rhetoric covering car insurance. Haigh commented: “Car insurance is an essential, not a luxury.…. The rising cost of cover affects all…… this government is determined to ensure drivers get a fair deal…… Our new expert taskforce is a major step forward in delivering a fair deal for drivers.”
But what of motorcycle insurance?
Colin contacted the DfT to specifically ask if motorcycle insurance would be within scope of the new Task Force. Thankfully the answer was that motorcycle insurance is in scope. Colin is now making enquiries to get contact details for the task force so that the plight of motorcyclists when it comes to insurance is properly considered.
ACT NOW: You can help to ensure that motorcycles are very much on the agenda here by writing to your local MP and asking him/her to ask for reassurances that motorcycle insurance will be covered. It may seem strange to do this when we know that motorcycle insurance is within scope, but the key is to make sure that it cannot be briefly passed over with an assumption that it is a minor issue. Motorcycle insurance is a tiny part of the entire motor insurance world, so will not naturally be top of the agenda for Government or the industry. We will only get noticed if we make some noise. Any letter to your MP can be very simple speaking in general terms or you may want to give your personal experience in more detail. The key is to make sure that you directly ask your MP to write to Louise Haigh asking for reassurances that motorcycle insurance will be given equal attention compared with car insurance.
Find out more about the Bikers Not Cash Cows campaign here
A new Road Safety Strategy
The Government is now making very firm commitments to developing a new Road Safety Strategy. We need to ensure that motorcyclists get a fair deal in terms of priority and funding. The Vision Zero mindset needs to be resisted. This ideology leads to the refusal to accept the concept of trade-offs. Colin has heard influential voices in the road safety community floating ideas such as reducing the national speed limit for rural roads to 40mph.
Thankfully the DfT does appear to recognise the economic benefits of the transport system but we need to be mindful of the ideological zeal of some voices in the road safety arena.
You will also have seen vast pressure being voiced for Graduated Driving Licences for young drivers, but notable is the complete lack of calls for a review of motorcycle licensing. The Roads Minister has publicly stated in a reply to a parliamentary question that “The Department for Transport continues to meet with representatives from the motorcycling industry to discuss proposals on Category L licensing reform. We are awaiting evidence from the Motorcycle Industry Association on their proposals.”
This suggests that the MCIA Licence for Net Zero campaign is blocking what we see as a need to commit first to a far wider debate that includes existing and potential riders rather than just the MCIA. We do not want the voice of the rider pushed into second place and we need to ensure that Government are aware that they need to listen to us.
ACT NOW: Again, you can help. Write to your MP and ask him/her to write to Louise Haigh asking that the views and needs of riders are given ample consideration in the forthcoming road safety strategy, and that a motorcycle licensing review is included as an action in the strategy; and that it looks beyond the MCIA proposals to what riders want.
Find out more about the Welcoming Roads campaign here
Join MAG
If you have never been a MAG member, have let your membership lapse, or are thinking you need to save some money by not renewing this year, we would love you to join, re-join or stay with us. If, like us, you are passionate about motorcycling, want to see motorcycling continue in the future, and want to preserve all that you love about it, we hope it will be an easy choice to make. MAG’s strength is in numbers. The riding community can demonstrate strength when it unites. If you want to say you played your part to defend motorcycling, please… join MAG today