2024-04-13 15:16:26
Thousands of angry bikers, 10,000 according to the organizers, demonstrated in Paris on Saturday April 13, during the afternoon, calling for a boycott of the compulsory technical inspection for motorcycles, scooters and other quads which comes into force Monday April 15 in France. Demonstrations took place in several cities: there were between 900 and 1,000 bikers in Rennes according to the police, at least 1,000 in Toulouse. The measure is supposed to increase safety but is contested by many motorcyclists.
“It’s pure and simple racketeering”denounces Isabelle Lebret, member of the French Federation of Angry Bikers (FFMC), arguing that several other European countries have not adopted technical inspection for two-wheelers, “like Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark”. The demonstrators call for « boycott total » of the new technical inspection, insisted Jean-Marc Belotti, coordinator of the FFMC for Paris and Ile-de-France.
It is a European directive dated April 2014 which obliges Member States to establish this technical control. Numerous appeals will have delayed its application in France, while the system was put in place on almost the entire European continent before the deadline of 1is January 2022.
In France, a first decree was issued by the government in 2021 before Emmanuel Macron buried it, anxious not to “annoy the French”. The government then announced that it would favor “alternative measures” such as awareness campaigns. He finally had to give in in 2023 by decision of the Council of State.
First checks for vehicles before 2017
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 now have to pass through 78 checkpoints. Brakes that are too worn, handlebars blurred, leaks, smooth tires: 87 major failures require a second inspection in the following two months with the vehicle repaired. Control of noise but also of vehicle restraint, often bypassed by scooters, will not be effective until the summer of 2025.
The first vehicles to be checked are those registered before 1is January 2017. 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, which is helping to boost the second-hand market in the first quarter of 2024 (+ 6% over one year), according to insurer Solly Azar.
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. THE “angry bikers” had asked the Council of State to urgently suspend the measure, but they were rejected on Tuesday.
“We cannot find any technical control center”
At the same time, 27 deputies from the majority, including the president of the law committee, Sacha Houlié, asked the Ministry of Transport for a “moratorium” on this technical inspection by proposing other solutions. They have not had a response yet.
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“Even if I would like to comply, we cannot find any technical inspection center”assured Agence France-Presse Sacha Houlié, who himself rides a Yamaha sports car. “I’m going to do my annual maintenance, like every year. I don’t know any biker who doesn’t do it”said the MP.
Deputies of the National Rally also called for the repeal of control, denouncing a “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 federation of Spanish inspectors; 17% of two-wheelers inspected in 2022 had to undergo a second inspection, and half of these suffered from major failures. Most of the defects concerned lighting, pollution or noise.
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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