BMF rejects licence proposals

The British Motorcycle Federation has recommended the UK rejects EU changes to the licensing system for motorcycles.

The BMF has submitted a 4000 word response to the Department for Transport which states that the Third EC Driving Licence Directive will make getting a licence more complex and more expensive, but do nothing for road safety.

The proposals include a complete change for licensing, with a new AM (moped) category, alongside new A1 (light motorcycle), A2 (intermediate motorcycle) and A3 (unlimited motorcycle) licences. The EU would also like to limit the first driving licence for three years.

The age limit for the A1 class would be lowered to 16, but Direct Access would be bumped up to 24. The BMF believe any problems with Direct Access come from older riders and are not addressed by these changes.

The UK riders group has submitted its own proposals with a mandatory training scheme over a period of several weeks as part of a new Direct Access test. It does however support the introduction of standards for examiners and medical checks for drivers.

BMF Govt Relations Exec, Trevor Magner, says, ” The second EC Driving Licence Directive was intended to harmonise licensing practice but has failed. The proposals in the Third have continued with more bureaucracy introduced for questionable benefits. The proposals are difficult to justify except as ‘busy work’ on the part of the European Commission. ”