For those of you who follow me on Twitter (@ThatFemaleBiker if you don't!), you will have seen that two days ago (the 22nd) marked the third anniversary of me passing my A1 licence and getting rid of my L-plates after a year of being on a scooter.
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| 22nd February 2012 - one very happy and newly qualified biker chick! |
Now, if we were talking driving a car, that would be the end of the conversation as there are absolutely no restrictions on driving other than what you can afford insurance-wise. But we aren't talking about cars, we're talking bikes and so I passed my theory, Module 1 and Module 2 three years ago but I was restricted instantly and the government put some more hoops in the way for me to jump through before they let me go..
Quick recap of the law for those who weren't aware.. In the EU, as of the 19th January 2012, if you take your test aged 17, you are then restricted for two years to a 125cc motorcycle. Which is the same as before, right? Wrong.
Under the new law, after two years, you have to take both your Mod 1 and your Mod 2 again on a bigger, but still restricted, bike. This is the A2 licence and where I am currently at, aged 20. I can ride anything up to 47 bhp which makes the range of bikes I can choose from something like a 600-700cc bike fitted with a restrictor kit.
In about a months time, I will have been riding on an A2 licence for a year meaning that I have just over one year left before I jump through the final few hoops laid in front of me by the government.
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| Looking practically identical to 2 years before except for being on a bigger bike |
Aged 21, after passing yet another Mod 1 test and Mod 2 test, I will finally be the holder of an A licence allowing me to ride any bike of any power. By this point, I will have been riding for 5 years (having started at 16) and will have completed a CBT, a CBT Plus, a motorcycle theory test, three Module 1 tests and three Module 2 tests in addition to whatever training I have completed to get me through said tests at the cost of who knows how much.
Comparing this to a car, I passed in the January of 2013, aged 18, so by the age of 21, I will have been driving for 3 years and will have completed about 15 hours of lessons, a car theory test and a practical driving test. With no restrictions anywhere along the way other than the ability to tow a trailer. Where is the balance of logic in this?
I understand that motorbike riders fall under the category of vulnerable road users, and I'm not denying that we are but why are the young riders like myself being punished for this classification? I would much rather go through the rigorous 8 hour training day to move up a licence like they do in other EU countries and I think that that is a more sensible way of doing it but our government just seem to want to discourage people from biking as that apparently reduces the amount of bike accidents on the roads.
Quick note to the UK Government: IT DOESN'T! What would reduce the number of accidents involving motorbikes on the road is more likely to be having more of them on the roads and teaching people during their driving lessons to spot bikers coming. An increased number of bikers would increase awareness of them and would actually lead to an increased safety for us. We all know the famous saying: there's safety in numbers, and it's so true!
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| If you were used to seeing this everyday, you wouldn't be surprised when one appeared |
Finishing on a bit of good news though, bike sales are up by about 17% from this time last year!
I'll try and make it less of a gap to the next post but until then, ride safe!
TFB
