Bikers demonstrate against the introduction of compulsory technical inspection, on the Paris ring road, April 13, 2024 (AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
Thousands of motorcyclists throughout France protested on Saturday the implementation of compulsory technical inspections for motorcycles, scooters and quads from Monday, a measure intended to increase safety.
10,000 bikers demonstrated in Paris calling for a boycott of a measure deemed “unfair” and amounting to “racketeering” according to the French Federation of Angry Bikers. From Brest to Strasbourg and from Calais to Perpignan, around sixty motorcycle parades in total were recorded during the weekend on the FFMC website.
There were between 900 and 1,000 in Rennes according to the police, more than 1,850 (organizers) in Toulouse and between 1,600 (prefecture) and 2,000 (organizers) in Bordeaux.
The more than three million category L vehicles, i.e. scooters, motorcycles, tricycles or carts, have until now escaped the controls introduced in 1992 for cars.
They will now have to go through 78 checkpoints. Brakes that are too worn, handlebars blurred, leaks, smooth tires: 87 major failures require a second inspection, i.e. returning within the following two months with the repaired vehicle.
Control of noise but also of vehicle restraint, often bypassed by scooters, will not be effective until summer 2025.
– The season of control –
The first vehicles to be inspected are those registered before January 1, 2017.
A demonstration of bikers opposed to technical inspection, avenue Foch in Paris, April 13, 2024 (AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
All these L category vehicles must also pass the test in case of resale. This measure has already pushed many motorcyclists to resell their machine before the deadline, helping to boost the second-hand market in the first quarter of 2024 (+6% over one year), according to insurer Solly Azar.
It took ten years and numerous appeals to enforce this 2014 European directive, already implemented in several countries on the continent. It is supposed to increase safety and reduce pollution.
In France, a first decree was taken by the government in 2021 before the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron buried it, anxious not to “annoy the French”.
The government then announced that it would favor “alternative measures” such as awareness campaigns. But he finally had to give in in October 2023 by decision of the Council of State.
– Angry bikers –
“Motorcycle technical inspection: one racket too many”, indicates the poster placed on the motorcycle of a demonstrator on April 13, 2024 in Paris (AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
The measure remains contested by many bikers in France. The FFMC, which calls on motorcyclists to boycott the technical inspection centers which deal with two-wheelers for their cars, considers the operation expensive and useless, because it is mainly visual.
The general delegate of the FFMC, Didier Renoux, insists that accidents are generally not due to the condition of the vehicle, well maintained by the bikers, but rather to the state of the road.
“We know that we are fragile, but in the motorcycle license, we are taught to do visual checks, check the hoses, the fluid level, see if the tires are deflated… Why impose something unfair on us and what are we already doing?” Yann Rouvery, member of the FFMC of Gironde, asked AFP on Saturday.
An “Angry Bikers” flag during a demonstration of bikers opposed to technical inspection, avenue Foch in Paris, April 13, 2024 (AFP/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)
At the same time, 27 deputies from the majority, including the president of the Laws Committee Sacha Houlié, asked the Ministry of Transport for a “moratorium” on this technical control, proposing alternative solutions. No response yet.
“Even if I would like to comply, we cannot find any technical inspection center,” assured AFP Sacha Houlié, who himself pilots a Yamaha sports car. “I’m going to do my annual maintenance, like every year. I don’t know any motorcyclist who doesn’t do it,” underlined the MP.
RN deputies also called for the repeal of control, denouncing “technocratic obstinacy”.
Since the confirmation of the inspection in October 2023, the technical inspection centers have nevertheless gone into overdrive to receive the necessary approval.
Not all of France is covered, but almost half of the centers are ready, or 3,000 inspectors, according to the technical inspection federation.
In Spain, since the introduction in 2006 of technical inspection for all two-wheelers, mortality has fallen sharply for moped drivers, but not among motorcyclists, according to the Spanish federation of inspectors.
In France, all category L vehicles must now be checked every three years.
Drivers without up-to-date technical inspections risk a fine of 135 euros or immobilization of the vehicle.
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© 2024 AFP
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