France: compulsory reflective clothing scrapped

France: compulsory reflective clothing scrapped

by UK France bikers

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Bikers in France, whether residents or visitors, have started 2013 with good news: the French authorities have recently announced the full and permanent scrapping of previous plans to force all bikers riding a machine of more than 125cc to wear 150cm2 of reflective clothing anywhere between the waist and the shoulders. Under the previous proposals, bikers who were caught not wearing the appropriate reflective clothing from 1st January 2013 would have been liable to a 68 euros fine payable on the spot and two points taken off their licence.
French bikers, with the invaluable and continuous support of the French Federation of Angry Bikers – FFMC (Fédération Française des Motards en Colère), can now enjoy riding all over France without wearing any reflective clothing if they so wish.

Manuel Valls, French Interior Minister, has permanently scrapped the proposed compulsory reflective clothing for bikers! Thank you, Mr Valls!​

Manuel Valls, the French Interior Minister (right), announced the good news to the biking community earlier this month and a large number of bikers celebrated their victory of what had been a long battle that took several months. Manuel Valls has now officially decided to permanently scrap the ludicrous and non-sense proposals put forward by Claude Guéant, his predecessor, who had been ejected from the French government following last year's presidential elections. The battle, which involved a series of national demonstrations gathering over 100,000 bikers and bringing the whole country to a complete stop, has obviously paid off and brought a fantastic result.
Guéant initially proposed the compulsory wear of reflective jackets and, with the enormous pressure he was put under with thousands of angry bikers who kept blocking the roads all over the country, he decided to back off and restrict the reflective clothing to only 150cm2 between the waist and the shoulders. But this was not good enough – the bikers demanded full scrapping of the proposals, which they have now finally obtained.
This was one of the most laughable and absurd proposals we had ever heard of because a) reflective clothing is precisely not reflective during day light, b) it is already compulsory to ride with headlights turned on, which makes riders clearly visible and c) those who ride machines of up to 125cc would have been exempt from wearing reflective clothing on the grounds that they don’t ride a powerful enough bike to be considered dangerous on the roads! Let’s not forget that a very large number of motorcyclists who ride a moped or a 125cc bike are precisely those who don’t hold a full motorcycle licence and have only attended at the very most a one-off 7 hour training course all together.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FFMC AND ALL BIKERS IN FRANCE!
There is nothing more productive than get together, stand up for our rights and fight against ludicrous public decisions that discriminate bikers against other road users and make our lives difficult when we use a mode of transport that should be encouraged, as it is the golden SOLUTION to reduce road congestion and air pollution. Demonstrate, stand up for our rights, fight against our government's ludicrous proposals that put the future of motorcycling in danger - are these what perhaps British bikers should do more by following the example of their French neighbours?
Whilst French bikers have remarkably won the reflective clothing battle, they now have to continue their fight against their government to make traffic filtering (or "lane splitting" to use the North American terminology) legal in France.

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If you're based in France and want to take part in the fight against the Government's continued policy to ban motorcyclists from filtering through traffic, then contact the Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC - French Federation of Angry Bikers).
Si vous habitez en France et souhaitez participer aux manifestations pour la circulation inter files des motocyclistes dans les embouteillages, contactez la Fédération Française des Motards en Colère (FFMC).

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Please join and support the campaign to stop Westminster Council from stealth taxing motorcyclists to park before their scheme spreads all over the UK and the rest of Europe. For further details, visit http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/
Rejoignez le groupe de manifestants contre le stationnement payant des motocyclistes a Westminster avant que cela ne se propage dans le reste du Royaume-Uni et l'Union Europeenne. Pour plus d'informations, consultez http://www.notobikeparkingtax.com/

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UK France bikers | January 20, 2013 at 17:49 | Tags: Claude Guéant, Manuel Valls, motorcyclists, reflective clothing scrapped, traffic filtering france | Categories: Motorcycling in

 

And about bloody time to!!!!





At least the froggies get off their arses and get things done!

 

Good post Dave. Will be in Normandy in May.

 

They do like having a bit of a strop and letting everyone know it that's for sure.....
In this case.... good on 'em....we have lots to learn over here....

 

Reckon there'd be no way that Australia would pass laws to allow lane splitting Wish they would. I still do it, and wait daily for the fine

 

Naughty naughty................. No worries mate, they're only our colonial cousins........ Bloody Irish........

 

I know when I was there, there used to be arguments about Lane Splitting and Filtering...

Now in my book they are the same and I think even Vic Roads says the same...however many people (in Vic at least) seemed to think

Filtering = Slow progression inbetween cars/trucks if they have stopped or they are moving very slowly.
Lane Splitting = flying past in between cars when cars are moving freely and close to motorway speeds.

When I lived there I used to 'Filter' in Vic, even past Police and they didn't bother me. They did pull up a bike 'Filtering' on the hard shoulder though and a bike 'Lane Splitting' whilst I was 'Filtering'...so maybe there is some truth...

But don't blame me if you use this as a guide and they still give you a ticket

 

Unfortunately it is completely not allowed in Aussie land. It is more that it isn't illegal, but there is nothing in the Traffic Act that relates to filtering/lane splitting. So they get you on dangerous driving.

That being said, there is a trial period of allowable zones of filtering in Sydney to reduce congestion. But only a trial, and pre results say that it won't be approved

A few hours after writing my first post hubby got done filtering between stationary cars. Police officer stepped out in front of bike and said pull over. He was then told (while being filmed/recorded) he could either accept the "failure to indicate charge by admitting he was lane splitting" (which is only $66 and 2 demerit points) or "don't admit it, and get done for instant dangerous driving" (which is instant loss of licence and a $260 fine). Guess which one he picked?! But that's still entrapment. Makes my blood boil. So gonna pay it, but lodging a formal complaint with the police service regarding the ultimatum!!

 

FYI http://www.news.com.au/national/on-...gap-between-cars/story-fndo4eg9-1226476525422

 

Think it's the same here. The Highway code last time I checked made no definition of what filtering actually is but mentions it a couple of times in a few sections (such as in observation to check for filtering vehicles when turning right). But on the BikeSafe course I did the coppers were fine with it and did use the example of lane splitting at high speeds to differentiate between the two.

 

See :

http://www.southeastcountiesbikers.co.uk/forum/threads/3006/

 

As I said before...it was Victoria I was talking about...

The news article also seems to back up why maybe Vic Police didn't pull me up for Filtering...because maybe they feel its safe and works, opposed to splitting...although technically illegal...

From news.com.au

And Victoria is close to permitting the practice, also known as "filtering".

Shaun Lennard, chairman of the Australian Motorcycle Council and chair the federal Motorcycle Safety Consultative Committee, said laws had to be changed to encourage more users of PTWs - powered two wheels.

"One initiative currently under consideration in Victoria is a trial of legalised filtering - that is, riding between stationery or very slow-moving lines of traffic," Mr Lennard said in a speech to MPs at a Canberra breakfast.

"This is a common practice in the majority of major cities, yet in most cases it is technically illegal.

"It's largely overlooked by police, and it's something that has worked for decades and makes sense. Some European countries have been looking at legitimising filtering."