Some 500 motorcyclists protested this Saturday in Faro against the introduction of mandatory periodic inspections for motorcycles over 125cc effective from January 2024, which they described as “farce” and “theft”.
At the initiative of Grupo Acção Motociclista (GAM), the “bikers”, who came from different parts of the Algarve, gathered at the Algarve stadium, drove towards Faro Airport and ended up in the center of the Algarve capital, making a slow ride of about 16 kilometers, completed in 45 minutes.
Motorcyclists protested against the postponement of a European directive from 2014, which provides for a mandatory periodic inspection (IPO) of motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles with a cylinder capacity of more than 125 cubic centimeters (cm3).
The obligation of periodic inspections of the motorcycles, tricycles and quadricycles in question “comes into force from January 1, 2024,” says Decree-Law No. 29/2023, published in Diário da República on January 5, May.
According to the law, inspections will have to be carried out “five years after the date of first registration, and then every two years.”
“Verification guarantees income but does not prevent accidents”, “Safety yes, business no”, “It’s not the motorcycle’s fault” and “We are not a business” are some of the messages displayed on protesters’ motorcycles.
José Amaro, president of the Moto Clube de Faro, which has organized the country’s most famous “bike” rally for four decades, told Lusa that he still believes in repealing the new law “provided the competent authorities show common sense.” .
But, in my opinion, they [entidades] completely incompetent because they are forcing people to do things they don’t know about, they are not motorcyclists and motorcyclists had no say in the law they approved,” he stressed.
Criticizing the “inspection lobby guaranteeing another source of income”, the motorcycle leader felt that “based on the assumption that if there are inspections, there are fewer accidents”, this is a “farce” and a false argument about a residual or practically non-existent problem.
The manifesto of Grupo Acção Motorcyclista, circulated among journalists, refers to two studies, one for the European space and the other for a French insurance company, which indicate 0.3% and 0.4%, respectively, as the percentage of motorcycle accidents “whose the cause is a technical malfunction of the vehicle.
Nuno Estorninho, GAM leader and president of Moto Clube de Lagoa, also stressed to Lusa that talking about safety issues with this new legislation “doesn’t make any sense.”
“Those who ride a motorcycle know very well that there are no accidents due to mechanical failures. Accidents happen for human reasons or external causes like potholes or animals, and that’s no excuse,” he said. emphasized.
“Biker” asked the police to conduct an additional check: “Ask the police to work on the road and they will do the check themselves. If the motorcycle does not meet the requirements, the authority agent orders an inspection. [obrigatória]it’s only for stealing.”
Ricardo Brito, from Moncarapacho in the municipality of Olhão, also rebelled against Lusa against “the theft that the government wants to commit on motorcycles”.
“What they say about the inspections is unfounded. If we look at the number of accidents, we see that the main causes are human error and poor road conditions, it has nothing to do with the motorcycle,” he continued.
Emphasizing that motorcyclists are “the first to worry about the condition of their motorcycle”, Ricardo Brito asked for “additional training”, especially for motorists who are “inexperienced” starting to ride motorcycles.
José Amaro recalled that many modified motorcycles, whether due to the ingenuity of motorcyclists or to improve their safety, will not pass the new mandatory checks.
“I’ll give you an example, I have a 34-year-old motorcycle that, if it had been inspected, would have failed. But I improved it, with new brakes, new wheels, better suspension. law, logically it will not pass. This law does not protect me,” he concluded.
In addition to Faro, GAM also held demonstrations this Saturday in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Funchal.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.