North Wales Police: No more random stops of bikers

Police in North Wales have agreed to stop randomly pulling over thousands of law-abiding motorcyclists in a dramatic victory for MCN readers.

The force has bowed to the demands of thousands of you who descended on the region in our Reclaim North Wales rally to protest against tactics which were driving riders away. 

We handed Chief Constable Mark Polin a stack of letters signed at our rally demanding he call a halt to the force’s practice of randomly stopping around 400 riders each weekend.    

Now the force has confirmed in a statement: “An intelligence led approach will mean the end of large numbers of motorcyclists routinely stopped each weekend to check the legality of bike and rider.”

The force is also to issue advice only for dark visors in daylight and will not prosecute for illegal exhausts unless there is a “noise annoyance”. Alternatives to prosecution will be considered for small number plates as long as “the plate is clearly legible and it is clear that the breach of regulations is not an attempt to evade automatic reading equipment”.

The force said: “More minor offences will be dealt with by issuing warnings and words of advice.”

Supt Simon Shaw, head of road policing, said: “This year enforcement tactics will be amended to make the best use of the officers’ time as they dedicate more time to targeting those that pose the greatest risk to themselves and others.”

Around 10,000 of you joined our Reclaim North Wales rally in September, transforming much of the region into one enormous bike festival and making the biggest UK rider protest in 20 years.  

We’ll be watching closely to see whether the force has really changed its ways. Let us know if you find it hasn’t.

For more on its new policy towards motorcyclists, get MCN, on sale now.