100hp UK limit knocked on the head

An e-peition to the office of British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, asking for proposed power restrictions on motorcycles to be set aside, has been successful.

In a rational decision, the government said that while it supported any measure to reduce deaths and serious injuries, "each initiative needs to be considered on its merits and the relative costs and benefits measured".

It continued: "The Department for Transport is not aware of any evidence to support the introduction of a maximum engine power limit for motorcycle as an effective measure to reduce accidents, and so does not believe that limits on the maximum power of motorcycles are necessary in the UK.

"In its response to the European Commission's initial consultation on proposals to revise the legislation on motorcycle construction the UK Department for Transport made it clear that, while individual member states should be permitted to set limits on a national basis, there should be no blanket maximum power limit imposed across all member states."

The petition, which was eventually signed by 719 people, said that proper quality training and attitudes were the key platforms to saving lives - not by introducing draconian power limits, which is the case in countries like France.

Meanwhile, Mr Brown can now continue to cast his eye over all the other petitions - including one that calls for his resignation… Isn't democracy wonderful?

Closer to home, the Victorian Transport Accident Commission is today launching yet another graphic advertising campaign.

However, just who will be in attendance is unclear at this stage. The Bikesales Network understands that members of Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council (VMAC) only received an official invite at the 11th hour, unaware about the nature and status of the new campaign - when it specifically requested last year to be consulted about future campaigns.

This latest freeze in relations between the key stakeholders follows on from a recent alarming news story on the Bikesales Network about reports that some motorcycle and scooter riders seriously injured and not wearing "protective clothing" have had their payouts reduced by up to 50 percent for "contributory negligence".

Furthermore, in yesterday's Herald Sun newspaper, a letter co-signed by independent riders' group campaigner Damian Codognotto, Michael Czajka and Guy Stanford from the NSW Motorcycle Council labelled the Victorian bureaucratic troika of the TAC/VicRoads/Police as containing "an anti-motorcycle culture".