Will have a look at that, thanks.

On a general basis, it's all very well us whinging about the government on here. If people feel strongly about the above, the best thing they can do is write to their MP or the relevant cabinet minister. You can do this online using this excellent website:

WriteToThem - Email or fax your Councillor, MP, MEP, MSP or Welsh, NI, London Assembly Member for free

In fact, I am always encouraging people to write to their MP, its one of the few ways we can hope to have a marginal influence on policy. MPs are essentially vote grubbers and if they think enough people care about a subject they will start to change their opinions. A letter is far more effective than signing a petition (too easy to make names up) or demonstrations (a lot of students, thugs and anarchists go on them for fun without caring about the subject matter). I try to write to an MP once a month or so. Go on, you know you want to!

Matt

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

See also this article about RFID tags on bikes to prevent tax evasion

1 ELECTRONIC VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION (EVI) FOR MOTORCYCLES Background



This sort of thing wouldn't be necessary if not for the anti-bike bias of law enforcment and government, and the small minority of idiots who flout the law in ways that exacerbate that anti-bike bias.

Motoreiter, Your quite right common sense should prevail, however we are dealing with a massive monolith of a government here whos whole sytem relies on statistics, creating beurocat jobs and applying statistics and figures to prove / disprove whatever they want or need to show. Think of it a bit like parts of the old soviet system I am sure this government took a lot of the ideas of government from the worst parts of that soviet system. We have constant monitering of every aspect of our lives - for the safety and security of the whole of our people - must sound familiar.
However the motorcycle problem does exist but our police forces are stripped to a bare minimum on the streets and are now pushed to the limit chasing statistics and targets that all come from a controlling central government. Like many areas NHS, POLICE, FIRE SERVICE, SCHOOLS etc the government trys to run everything once upon a time -Not too long ago all these services were ran independent of central government and were better for it.
Bye the way the insurance companies already load various bike premiums based on performance, accident statistics etc etc.

Was it Disreali who coined the phrase "Lies, damn lies and statistics." ?

Matt

__________________
http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

The German system is to ban motorcycles from the problomatic roads at weekends.

Steve

First problem that springs to mind, assuming this is a scheme aimed at road safety, is that it invades the privacy of all motorcyclists purely to try and address the actions of a few.

I won't say that going for a mad blast is not dangerous, but not all those riders are going to be inept on the back of a powerful bike. This sort of strategy says that they are, including you, me and any other two wheeler out for the day.

I think that is wrong.

Technology can help in certain areas, but to my mind, instead of £100K this and £500K that, they should simply employ more police. They are far more qualified to evaluate the risks of given situation than a sensor buried under tarmac and they can move from one corner of the county to another unlike snsors buried under tarmac...

All this smacks of "La politique du saucisson".

Cooked sausage politics. What is that? Its an expression to lillustrate how one can keep cutting a thin slice of the sausage and munch away, then another slice , and then another, thinking there is plenty left. From one slice to the next its hard to tell its getting smaller.

Then, all of a sudden, that sausage is gone.

Now substitute "sausage" for "your right to privacy and the freedoms you take for granted".

These policies are doing the same thing. First "Safety" cameras, and CCTV, then tracking our movements overseas, and then these GPS systems, and now isolatiung particular groups. Each time such a move is made, the government waits until public opinion quietens down or something else grabs the fickle headlines and then we quietly start the next scheme.

Once all these systems are in place, for "safety" or anti-terror reasons, then it is so easy to change how they are used. By then its too late for the average joe on the street: welcome to Police State Britain....

Sounds meladramatic, and probably is, but I've long since stopped believing the reasons we are given for a particular policy.

The real motive is always another, IMO... Often revenue, but sometimes its more...

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Personally i think its a load of rubbish dreamed up by a non-bikeing politician
If they want to improve bike road safety why not improve the level of training given and make the test more relevant to what bikers actually do how many of you go around town doing U-turns and slaloms. A better way would be to take new bikers to a track and teach them to handle a bike at speed (braking, posistioning and feeding on the power) then take them out on the road and show them how to apply their new skills to the road also teach them to overtake safely. Seen to many idiots overtaking on blind bends and crests recently now the weather is getting better. Then they should go through the low speed stuff.
Also a compulsory CBT for car drivers would make them more aware of bikes and how they handle
If they did this they wouldn't have to waste taxpayer money on a system that won't actually improve safety. Why do they need to know where the bikers have come from anyway, surely all they need to know is where popular bike routes are and then make them more bike friendly with safer barriers and improved road maintenance.

£100,000 is one consultant for maybe two months, or 20 consultants for a working week. They will have a powerpoint of maybe 6 pages, listing problems with no answers.

This isn't going anywhere for £100,000. Maybe for 10x this.

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http://bigben.to/ London to....? The big bike annual rally.
http://www.mongolbikers.com 125cc London -> Mongolia.

Just got back from the local meeting of NO2ID.net . I am afraid, very afraid and I am not trying to be poetical or creative. Personally I want out, rid of my UK nationality and that's that. Linzi.

I wonder :confused1:

When they teach about George Orwell in English schools is it as
a warning or a goal.

The day that happens will be the day I buy a non-UK registered bike. Seems to work for Eastern Europeans working over here.

Why not develop detectors for white van drivers? There is as many of them driving recklessly as there are bikers and the van is far more likely to be used for the purpose of committing a crime. Are they persecuted like we are?

I agree that there is a problem with the mid-life crisis brigade but this isn't the solution to the problem.

I had been non-objectional to the ID card issue but now I'm convinced they and other statistic gathering exercises have a hidden agenda.

I was indifferent to the ID card when it was first proposed. Namely because, being a French citizen to I was used to the ID card used in France.

Not so anymore. Not because an ID card is a bad thing, but anytime that Whitehall say that something is to improve security, I am very wary. It seems like the buzz-word to get public opinion behind it, by preying on the fears of the masses. So ID card in the UK for security I think is a red herring.

Ironically, over here in Estonia, they have a very efficient and user friendly ID system which, frankly, is geared to the public. You can do virtually everything online using PINs and your ID card as digital signatures. It is so easy to use. It also double as your public transport "ouyster" card, library card.... you name it...

Why do I get the feeling such a system would fall flat on its face in the UK...?

Anyway, sorry.....

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Not much point in locking the stable door when horse has already bolted (English proverb).

Linzi, any thoughts you want to share with us from that meeting?

I'll get back with a link. I have been wondering how to make it thread relevant enough but that's easy. Soon we'll not be able to move freely minding our own business and I feel sure the days of motorcyles outside museums are coming to an end later rather than sooner. Linzi.

It could take time to find the link but in the next few weeks a lot of material is going before the house of commons and buried and camouflage in there is one innocent looking title which actually gives Govt the right to take any info on any UK person, share it with anyone they choose and this will happen unless the lethargic, sceptical public lifts a finger--it won't. This is for me too much. For the time being check out this morning's Guardian, slightly left wing newspaper: Fight against terror 'spells end of privacy' | UK news | The Guardian I am a level headed person but I simply don't like being stared at. Further, my NHS file contained the file of someone else up to 21 years of age--put that in the database and it becomes fact to them. I am still paying road tax for a car that went to the breakers 6 years ago. I love everyone everywhwere and wish all joy and happiness for ever. Linzi.