Bikers Not Cash Cows
MAG asks the Government to remove motorcycles from the scope of all local charging regimes for congestion and air quality management and introduce proportionality to national taxation for motorcycles.
At a local level, taxation of motorcycling is most often justified as a method to change behaviours to promote sustainability. It takes the form of charging schemes to reduce congestion, air pollutant emissions or greenhouse gas emissions. The policies often fail to differentiate between cars and motorcycles. Examples such as the London Ultra Low Emission Zone apply the same charge for cars and motorcycles deemed to exceed emission standards, or in the case of Oxford’s Zero Emission Zone, all vehicles that produce any tailpipe CO2 emissions, face charges regardless of embedded carbon.
MAG calls for the Government to follow the example set by Transport Scotland, whose published guidance on Low Emission Zones specifically recommends that motorcycles and mopeds are scoped out of LEZ schemes unless a local authority can provide a robust justification for their inclusion. https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/50416/low-emission-zone-guidance-october-2021.pdf
Motorcycles demonstrably reduce congestion and improve air quality. MAG’s report Powered Two Wheelers: An Air Quality Solution lays out the evidence in depth. https://wiki.mag-uk.org/images/c/cf/Promoting_Modal_Shift_to_PTWs_August_2018_%282%29.pdf
The ‘one size fits all’ approach of seeking to manage motorcycles the same way as cars is illogical.
At a national level, current Vehicle Excise Duty is unfair and disproportionate for motorcycles. This results from an inconsistent approach for different vehicle classes. Cars are currently charged based on tailpipe CO2 emissions while motorcycles are charged based on engine capacity. This results in an illogical and unfair system where smaller, less polluting motorcycles are more heavily taxed than large polluting cars. MAG calls for a simplified and consistent weight-based structure for all vehicle classes.
https://wiki.mag-uk.org/images/4/49/Position_Statement_Vehicle_Excise_Duty_2020_03_19.pdf
With the diminishing revenue expected from Fuel Duty there is potential that Government will seek to replace current VED and Fuel Duty with a national pay-per-mile system. MAG asks the Government to ensure that any resultant system is fair, simple and consistent – based purely on vehicle weight and distance travelled.
Vehicle Excise Duty or any proposed alternative national Road Pricing must be fair and proportionate. This is only likely to be deliveredif the government is prepared to Move on Motorcycling.
MAG is additionally asking that the new Government’s Motor Insurance Task Force focuses on motorcycle insurance premiums as well as those for car drivers.
Bikers Not Cash Cows- Campaign Progress
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.
MAG continues to get motorcycling issues on the political agenda. All riders can get involved in helping to make that happen. Visit the ACT NOW page to see what you can do today to help us make the future of motorcycling better.
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